The 2017 Annual Meeting of the Southborough Open Land Foundation (video), held May 17, 2017 was highlighted by the presentation of both the 2016 and 2017 Elaine Beals Conservation Award and an illustrated discussion on the Bay Circuit Trail by Marilyn and Dan Brielmann of e-Awakening.  The meeting opened with a brief overview by Catherine Weber on the upcoming Art on the Trails Exhibition.  Following this, the 2016 Elaine Beals Award was presented to Christa Brady and the Friends of the Burnett-Garfield House in recognition of their efforts to preserve the property at 84 Main Street.  The group helped educate the community about the historical significance of the property and the importance of placing a historic preservation restriction on the property.   SOLF also took the opportunity to present special awards recognizing two Algonquin High School students, Jen Fox and Bridget Brady, for their leadership in leading the protest which awakened the town to the impending demolition of the house at 84 Main Street.

Alan French, founder and former chairman of the Bay Circuit Alliance, was presented with the 2017 Elaine Beals Award.  Alan has worked tirelessly for over thirty years to reinvigorate the Bay Circuit Trail concept and bring it to completion.  An idea first conceived in 1929 by a man named Benton MacKaye, the trail was to be a greenway, in a wide arc of open space roughly in the vicinity of what is now route 128. It would provide a natural respite for the growing population.  Now, the trail is in a much larger arc of over 230 miles of trail with Newburyport at one end and Duxbury at the other.  Southborough is at its westernmost point.  In the process, many acres of land have been protected and many many people have enjoyed these beautiful trails close to home.

Following the presentation of the awards, the husband and wife team of e-Awakening, Marilyn and Dan Brielmann,  gave an illustrated discussion of walks along portions of the Bay Circuit Trail, accompanied by original songs of Dan Brielman. Marilyn and Dan are environmental activists and educators whose mission is to tell green stories and build a sustainable environment through books, music and video. You can watch a video of their presentation here (their presentation starts  at about 20 minutes). More information, including videos of the Bay Circuit Trail, books, and Dan’s recordings, are available on their website  e-Awakening.

The Southborough Open Land Foundation will hold its annual meeting on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at the Southborough Community House, 28 Main Street, Southborough at 7:00 PM.

Join us at the meeting where Dan & Marilyn Brielmann  of e-Awakening along with Alan French will be your guides taking you along the Bay Circuit Trail, a 200 mile natural wonder that arcs around the City of Boston from Newburyport, through Southborough and other Metrowest communities, to Kingston, MA. In addition, Alan French will be presented the Elaine Beals Conservation Award, presented annually by SOLF to a person who has worked to help protect the environment in Southborough and the region. Alan French is an Andover resident and was the founder, Chairman, and Executive Director of the Bay Circuit Alliance, Inc. He will talk about the more than 25 years he was involved with this project and making it a reality. The Elaine Beals Conservation Award was created in 2005 to honor Elaine Beals for her many contributions to conservation and the protection of the environment in Southborough and the region.

The meeting is free and open to the public, you need not be a member of SOLF to attend. Click here for a flyer on the event.

Call for Poetry as part of Art on the Trails: Finding Solace in the Woods at Beals Preserve.  Poets are encouraged to submit poetry written in response to the work. Deadline for submissions is July 7. Poetry will be juried by Tishman Review poetry editor, poet, and Westborough resident Maura Snell and Hopkinton poet Cynthia Franca. All accepted poetry will be included in a chapbook along with the art installations which inspired them. Submission guidelines and more information about Art on the Trails: Finding Solace in the Woods can be found at artonthetrails.com or by contacting Catherine Weber at cweber@artonthetrails.com or 508-523-3605.

SOLF is excited to announce that we are the recipients of a grant from the Southborough Community Fund, a fund of the Foundation for Metrowest. The grant will enable SOLF to present a workshop to inform landowners of the financial and environment advantages of placing a conservation restriction on their property and/or donating the property to a land trust. The funds will also enable SOLF to present several nature related programs open to the public. Please visit the Southborough Community Fund (SCF), Foundation for Metrowest website to see the good work it is doing in town. Programs funded by this grant will be listed on our Upcoming Events page.

The Southborough Open Land Foundation congratulates Nick Hills of Southborough Boy Scout Troop 1 for achieving his Eagle Scout Rank on June 4, 2016. Nick’s Eagle Scout Project was a trail renovation at Beals Preserve.  There was a serious erosion problem on the Old Farm Lane Trail at the Red Gate Lane entrance area.  During heavy rain storms, the water would overflow the storm drains at the cul de sac and pour down the trail, causing the trail to erode badly.  When Nick came to us looking for a project, we met with him to explain the problem and showed him the area of concern. He immediately demonstrated a grasp of the situation, asked pertinent questions, made several suggestions, and then forged ahead with the project.  Not only did he and members of the troop build the water breaks, but they also improved the small stone wall at the entrance area, enhancing the visual appearance. Nick showed understanding of the problem with which he was presented, initiative in trying to help solve it, and leadership in executing the project.  SOLF is grateful for Nick’s work and congratulates him on achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.

Join SOLF Trustee and Wildlife Survey Coordinator Lawrence Spezzano for a discussion of the project. Click here for more details on the program. Thursday, May 26, 2016, Southborough Library, 7:00 PM.

Jeff Collins from Mass Audubon led a birdwalk at Beals Preserve on a beautiful May morning, May 14, 2016. A large number of species, including a Red-winged Blackbird, European Starling, Barn Swallow,  Canada Goose and Goslings, Mallard Duck, Yellow Warbler, Warbling Vireo, American Goldfinch, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, Song Sparrow, Gray Catbird, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Eastern Kingbird, Common Grackle, Great Blue Heron, Common Yellowthroat, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Baltimore Oriole, Eastern Bluebird, Green Heron, Brown-headed Cowbird, Chipping Sparrow, Ovenbird, Pine Warbler, Tufted Titmouse, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird,  and Northern Flicker, were either heard or seen by members of the walk . Some photos of participants, and Beals Preserve taken by Doris Cahill are shown below.

Birdwalk Participants

The Southborough Open Land Foundation held its annual meeting on Wednesday, May 11, 2016, at the Southborough Community House, 28 Main Street, Southborough.  The meeting featured  wildlife photographer Peter Christoph,  a full-time wildlife photographer, speaker, and author from Lancaster, MA,  speaking  on Birds, The Epic Adventures of a Massachusetts Bird Photographer. His program was a narrated slide show of  his favorite bird photographs, all taken in Massachusetts. Peter also shared stories of his photographic adventures and the techniques he uses to capture his images as well as his favorite places to take photos of birds in their natural habitat.

On Saturday, April 2, 2016, Lisa Carlin of Mass Audubon’s Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center and Wildlife Sanctuary will present a children’s program on beavers and their habitat.  Children will  “create” their own beaver dam and/or lodge with playdough and pretzels. The presentation is at the  Southborough Library, 25 Main Street, Southborough, 2:00 PM. The program is free, but registration is required. Call the Library at (508) 485-5031 to register. The program is appropriate for children ages 5 to 9.

See a flyer for the program here.

This program is funded by a grant from the Southborough Community Fund (SCF), Foundation for Metrowest.

On Tuesday, February 23, 2016, Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions, LLC, Southampton, MA ,  discussed  solutions  open to us when beavers begin to affect our property. He discussed the importance of beavers in creating and maintaining wetlands. He indicated that beaver ponds influence water quality by storing water and slowly releasing it. This process allows suspended particles to settle  and detoxify many runoff toxins. Despite these benefits, however, there are often conflicts when beaver dams threaten homes or septic systems. Mike presented potential solutions to these conflicts including flow control devices to control flooding from beaver dams and trapping where necessary. You can watch the presentation here.

This program was funded by a grant to SOLF from the Southborough Community Fund (SCF), Foundation for Metrowest.

At its 2014 on May 27th annual meeting, SOLF thanked Carol Gay as she stepped down as a trustee of the Southborough Open Land Foundation after serving on the Board of Trustees for 25 years.  During that time she served as the vice-president and the treasurer of SOLF.  She also helped with the fundraising in 2005 to help pay for the conservation restriction that the town purchased on Chestnut Hill Farm in 2006.  Carol helped organize the dedication celebration of Beals Preserve in 2008 and SOLF’s 25th Anniversary celebration in 2013.  She coordinated the Club Day events with Eastern Mountain Sports. She kept many records concerning SOLF and has always been ready to help the organization whether at SOLF’s Heritage Day booth, at Riverfest, or other events.  Carol and her husband George demonstrated their dedication to the preservation of open space by placing a conservation restriction on 61 acres of their own property in 1991.  SOLF recognized Carol’s dedication to conservation and open space by presenting her with the Elaine Beals Award in 2009.  The Board of Trustees will miss Carol’s talents and hard work.

SOLF board member Deborah Costine presenting a basket of flowers to retiring board member Carol Gay for 25 years of service to SOLF.

SOLF held its annual meeting on May 27, 2015, at 7:00PM at the Southborough Community House, 28 Main Street, Southborough.  The speaker was Alexander Dunn from Mass Audubon and Trustees of Reservations discussing “Turkeys in Suburbia and Other Changes in Massachusetts Bird Life.” 

In addition, the annual Elaine Beals Conservation Award was presented to Representative Carolyn Dykema for her leadership in environmental protection. This award is presented annually by SOLF  to a person who has worked to help protect the our environment.

Board member Carol Gay was also honored after leaving the board for many years of service to SOLF and the conservation community.

SOLF board member Deborah Costine presenting a basket of flowers to retiring board member Carol Gay.

Southborough native Rebecca Watters, an Algonquin Regional High School graduate,  shared her experiences doing research, both in the United States and Mongolia, on the elusive wolverine.  She was part of a 5 person team on a National Geographic sponsored research project that cross country skied through the remote Darhad region of Mongolia. Her talk explored the biology and ecology of wolverines, the critical questions of how to conserve climate sensitive wildlife, the adventures on skis, foot, and horseback that go with research efforts on a high-elevation species on two continents, and  what we can learn from scientific and conservation dialogue across cultures. You can read about her research and see photos of the expedition in this article from the Community Advocate.  A recording of the presentation is available here. This program was supported by a grant from the Southborough Community Fund.

Sandra Bonzagni  shared her experience with tick-borne diseases by telling about the difficulties in  diagnosis and treatment of this disease.  Information was also given about other tick-born infections, such as Babesiosis and Anaplasmosis as well as information about  personal and property protection from ticks. This program was supported by a grant from the Southborough Community Fund. You can see a video of the presentation here. The video was recorded and posted by Southborough Access Media.

SOLF is pleased to announce that it received a $2500 grant from the Southborough Community Fund. The grant money will be used to continue the wildlife survey begun last year at Beals Preserve and to fund educational programs for the community.

Nine happy hikers participated in a Nature Walk, Sunday October 19, at the Beals preserve, led by SOLF trustee Debbie Costine. The weather was cooler than the previous several days but the activity kept us all nice and warm! None had been to the Preserve before so this also served as an orientation. We saw several swans on the reservoir channel, some interesting fungus, beautiful colored leaves and the children pulled lots of the “invasive” Buckthorn bush.