On Saturday, May 20, 2023, 12,000 Rotarians from 450 clubs across five states will be doing a wide variety of local service projects in their communities. The Southborough Rotary Club will be working with Freddie Gillespie, Open Space Preservation Commission Chair and Pollinator Preservation Garden expert, at the Pollinator Preservation Garden at Beals Preserve from 9:00 – 11:00 am.
Category Archives: Past Events
SOLF Annual Meeting on Wednesday, May 10
Please join us for the Southborough Open Land Foundation’s Annual Meeting on Wednesday, May 10 at the Community House at 28 Main Street in Southborough. The evening starts at 6 pm with light refreshments, followed at 7 pm with Trustee introductions and remarks, the presentation of the 2023 Elaine Beals Conservation Award to Al Bezanson, and a program by Trustee Debbie Costine entitled, “A Virtual Walk in the Woods.”
Artist and “curious naturalist,” Trustee Deborah Costine is the past Vice-President of Southborough Open Land Foundation, a long-time member of Sudbury Valley Trustees SVT, and a National award-winning puppeteer. Slow, solitary walks in the woods pausing often to look carefully and taking pictures is what grounds her. In this presentation, previously hosted by SVT in 2021, Debbie will take her audience along with her, settling into the rhythm of the forest and looking at some of her favorite photos.
Earth Day Clean-up April 22, 2023
SOLF trustees and volunteers participated in this year’s Earth Day clean-up, starting at the trailhead to Templeman Woods on Route 85, and heading south past Richards Road, stopping at our other property at Lambert Corners.
Program on Eastern Coyote/Coywolf on April 27
On April 27 at 7 pm at the Southborough Library, SOLF, in conjunction with Earth Day, offered a program by Dr. Jon Way on The Eastern Coyote/Coywolf – How Coyotes behave and live so successfully near people.
Topics included:
- The typical home range and territory size of the Eastern Coyote.
- Its movement and activity patterns.
- Its sociality, denning behavior, and hybridization.
- Many photos and some video clips.
The presentation ran about one hour and a half, including questions and book sales. Our thanks to the Southborough Library for hosting the event.
Jonathan (Jon) Way has a B.S. (UMass Amherst), M.S. (UConn Storrs), and doctorate (Boston College) related to the study of eastern coyotes/coywolves.
Visit the SOLF Booth at Heritage Day on October 10
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Southborough’s “Heritage Day” is Monday from 10:00 to 3:00 on St Mark’s field. We will be there so come by, have a granola bar and learn about SOLF.
History Walk at Beals Preserve on Sunday, October 16 at 10 am
Join Whitney Beals and the Southborough Open Land Foundation (SOLF) for a history walk at the Elaine and Philip Beals Preserve on Sunday, October 16 at 10 am. President Whitney Beals will walk and talk about the history of the property. Meet at the kiosk on the south side of the aqueduct. Sign up at the SOLF booth at Heritage Day or send email to info@solf.org to let SOLF know that you are planning to attend. Note there is now a parking lot on Route 30 Main Street. To get directions, more parking information, and a map for Beals Preserve, go to on https://solf.org/beals-preserve/.
Review of SOLF 2022 Annual Meeting
The Southborough Open Land Foundation had its Annual Meeting on May 18, 2022 at the Southborough Community House. The evening started with a wine and cheese reception followed by a welcome by Vice President Debbie Costine. Debbie gave an overview of SOLF and its relationship to the town, explaining that SOLF is a private non-profit tax-exempt organization, and that the land, including Beals Preserve, is the private property of SOLF, and that the land is open to the public.
President Whitney Beals then gave a review of the activities and accomplishments over the past year, pointing out that we are the stewards of our 15 properties, with Beals Preserve our hallmark parcel. Debbie Costine has been spearheading Saturday work crews at Beals Preserve, clearing along the main lane, controlling the invasive and highlighting native trees and shrubs. Kat McKee, chair of the Southborough Trails Committee, and scouts from Troop 92 worked on maintaining the joint trail systems at Templeman Woods, a SOLF property and Watkins Woods, a town property. At Bigelow Wildlife Refuge, Eagle Scout Robby Stewart, with oversight by trustee Lawrence Spezzano, built a path and a viewing platform, and Lawrence has been working on knotweed control using fine wire mesh.
We lost Linda Hubley, a dear friend, in 2021. The Southborough Scholarship Committee started the Linda Hubley Memorial Scholarship Fund for students with a strong interest in environmental studies. Linda worked on environmental causes, volunteered in schools, was an election worker, started the first online newspaper in Southborough. She was awarded the Elaine Beals Conservation Award in 2010. SOLF issued a challenge to match $1000. We received $1600 in donations for the scholarship fund, making a total of $2600. Skip Hubley and two representatives of the Scholarship Fund (Kathleen Kuklewicz and Alexandra Mills) accepted the donation from VP Debbie Costine.
Whit Beals then presented the Elaine Beals Conservation Award 2022 to Jim Gorss. Jim lived close to Breakneck Hill, a town property. He was responsible for much of the look and accessibility of the property that we enjoy today. He was on and chaired the Stewardship committee. He also installed fencing at the Beecology Garden. Congratulations to Jim for this well-earned award.
Debbie Costine Introduced Peter Alden, our speaker for the evening. Peter gave a highly informative and entertaining presentation on perspectives on changing wildlife populations in New England since the time of Henry David Thoreau; new arrivals like the cardinal and moose and those no longer seen like the ruffed grouse.
SOLF Completes Linda Hubley Scholarship Fund Challenge
The Southborough Scholarship Committee created a new scholarship to honor the memory of Linda Hubley, a woman who championed both state and local environmental causes. During her career, Linda worked for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management, Division at both Hopkinton State Park and Walden Pond State Reservation in Concord. Later she worked with the USDA in Worcester on the Asian Longhorned Beetle Eradication, Plant Protection and Quarantine program and retired in November of 2019 as a supervisor. Locally she helped form SWAMP, a group that studied the Sudbury River and which would be absorbed by the SUASCO Watershed Council. She was also involved locally as a volunteer in the schools and served as an election worker. Somehow Linda found time to start the first on-line newspaper for Southborough. The state legislature honored her extraordinary contributions with an Unsung Hero award. SOLF chose her as the recipient of the Elaine Beals Conservation Award in 2010.
Recognizing how appropriate it is to honor Linda’s memory with a scholarship that will help keep her legacy alive by helping a student who pursues environmental education, the SOLF Board issued a challenge to match up to $1000 in donations to the fund. We are thrilled to say that our challenge was met and exceeded. We raised $1600 in donations. That means that with SOLF’s $1000 portion of the challenge we are able to present the Southborough Scholarship Committee with $2600 toward the Linda Hubley Scholarship Fund.
At our Annual Meeting on May 18, SOLF VP Debbie Costine presented Skip Hubley, Linda’s husband, with a $1000 check for the Linda Hubley Memorial Scholarship. Looking on were two members of the Southborough Scholarship Committee, Kathleen Kuklewicz and Alexandra Mills.
You can read about the scholarship and Linda at https://www.mysouthborough.com/2022/03/04/town-announces-linda-hubley-memorial-scholarship/.
SOLF Annual Meeting on Wednesday, May 18
Mark your calendars for the Southborough Open Land Foundation’s Annual Meeting on Wednesday, May 18 at the Community House in Southborough, with a reception and light refreshments at 6 pm, followed by a presentation at 7 pm by Peter Alden — Concord native, ornithologist, naturalist, author — on changes over time to Concord’s bird and mammal inhabitants. Read more about Peter here. Meet the SOLF Trustees and help congratulate Jim Gorss, the winner of the Elaine Beals Conservation Award. See the flyer here.
Earth Day Walk at Beals Preserve on April 22
As part of the town-wide Planet Palooza Earth Celebration, SOLF sponsored “A Walk Back in Time” on April 22 at 11am at Beals Preserve – a review of the history of the Beals Preserve use since 1900. Participants met at the Pollinator Preservation Garden in the Main Street Field at Beals Preserve for a brief overview of the new pollinator garden before heading out for the history & nature walk. Kathryn Korostoff and Freddie Gillespie gave the garden presentation, and Whitney Beals gave a engrossing talk about the agricultural use and acquisition of the fields that became Beals Preserve.
