The Southborough Open Land Foundation extends a tremendous THANK YOU to Catherine Kundrath Weber for pulling off a highly successful “Art on the Trails” project. From original concept, to all the many threads that must be coordinated, to perseverance throughout the entire process to even a celebration walk and poetry reading at the end, she maintained enthusiasm and a “can do” attitude. Because of this, many residents of our town discovered the Beals Preserve for the first time and found a safe place of natural solace to revisit and cherish. Catherine, you are a champion of Art and Nature.

The Southborough Open Land Foundation (SOLF) presented naturalist, tracker and teacher of wilderness skills Paul Wanta in an exploration of the wildlife and plants that inhabit Beals Preserve, Southborough, MA. Paul Wanta has taught wilderness and tracking skills to young people for over 30 years. He lead us through the trails of Beals Preserve looking for the tracks and signs of the wildlife present in the Preserve.

The Southborough Open Land Foundation,  with support from the Southborough Open Space Preservation Commission and Sudbury Valley Trustees, invites you to a complimentary workshop to explore options for conserving family land, Sunday, June 25, 2017, 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM, Southborough Community House, 28 Main Street, Southborough, MA 01772. Presentations by Steve Sloan, Owner of Cambridge Consulting, a firm that helps protect natural areas,  farmland, and historic sites across Massachusetts; Frederica Gillespie, Southborough Open Space Preservation Commission; and a panel of Southborough landowners who have successfully conserved their properties.

Please direct questions/RSVPs to Chelsea Polevy by June 21. Email: cpolevy@svtweb.org or call (978) 443-5588 ext.138.

For a flyer on the event, click here.

This workshop is made possible by a generous grant from the Foundation for Metrowest,  Southborough Community Fund.

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.