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The Friends ofHemlock Gorge1094 Chestnut Street |
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The Friends ofHemlock Gorge1094 Chestnut Street |
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Welcome to the Home Page of the
Friends
of Hemlock Gorge Reservation
, a community organization dedicated to preserving and
improving Hemlock Gorge, Brian Yates, President.
Hemlock Gorge is a 23-acre reservation along the Charles River, conceived by Charles Eliot in 1892 and currently managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. |
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News & Announcements 2017 Upcoming Meetings Regular meetings are usually held on the first Tuesday of the month at 7:30 in the evening. Our next regular meetings will be Tuesday May 2, 2017 and Tuesday June 6, 2017. Minutes of the April meeting are available here.Unless otherwise announced, meetings are held at the Emerson Community Center off of Pettee Street. Click here for directions.
Stone Building Railings Project Approved!
At our December meeting, Evan Westrate then announced that the DCR has approved our
public-private partnership proposal to replace the fencing by the Stone
Building. The Friends will contribute $7,000 and the state $14,000 to the
project. At the April meeting Brian announced receipt of the official letter of
commitment from the DCR. We all congratulated Evan on his tenacious
work on behalf of all of us in bringing the project to a successful
conclusion.
Echo Bridge Railing Project - A Call to Action!
Echo Bridge is one of outstanding landmarks of the Metropolitan Parks
System. Built in 1876, Echo Bridge was designed by the Boston Water
Works (BWW) to carry the Sudbury Aqueduct over the
Charles River. The largest of its seven arches is 130’ in length,
which made it the second longest masonry arch in the United States.
The bridge is remarkable for its graceful and handsome granite and
brick design that contribute to the rugged beauty of Hemlock Gorge.
The historic cast iron railings pictured above are an integral
component of the promenade over which pedestrians and bicyclists
traverse daily. After 140 years, however, they are now in serious
disrepair. In 2008, the MWRA installed a temporary chain link safety
fence inside the historic railings to enable the bridge to remain
open.
The time has come to either raise the funds to properly replicate
the historic railings or to install a more permanent and attractive
safety railing system inside the historic railings while leaving the
old railings themselves in disrepair. Everyone prefers the former path
if at all possible.
While State Rep. Ruth Balser was successful in allocating $250,000 in
a past transportation bond bill for the railing project, full costs
for the project far exceed that amount. In response to the fact that
the MWRA cannot fund historic preservation projects decoupled from its
water supply mission, a group of citizens has joined together to help
raise funds to fix the historic railings, and we invite your support.
For more information, please see
our website and
our flyer.
Funds are being sought from multiple sources via a private/public
partnership so that the expense of proper restoration is shared across
a variety of stakeholders and contributors. Sources will include State
funds, Newton and Needham Community Preservations funds, historic
foundations, and private contributors. MWRA, the bridge owner, will be
the funding recipient and will provide the engineering, contracting,
and project management expertise to conduct the project. Will you join
us in a pledge?
Please e-mail us your willingness
to pledge to this project: at
EchoBridgeRailings@outlook.com
Echo Bridge Across the Years Click here to read the history of Echo Bridge as written by the late historian Ken Newcomb in his online book, Makers of the Mold, published by the Friends of Hemlock Gorge To see stories about Echo Bridge that have appeared on our web site go to: Archive of Echo Bridge news stories. To read a very detailed government report on the Echo Bridge railings, provided to us by Lee Fisher, click here.
2016 Annual Report
The 2016 Annual Year-End Report to Members is online.
Click here to read it. 2016 Summer Picnic Our Annual Picnic took place on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 across the river from the usual location(Hamilton Place) from late afternoon to dusk. It was a perfect evening and the event was well attended. The event was the kickoff of fundraising for the permanent repair of the railings on Echo Bridge. Lee Fisher has agreed to lead these efforts (see above). All interested in helping should contact him. This picnic was both fun and a first step toward a productive year for the Friends. 2016 Saving the Hemlock Trees Project Through the efforts of Bob Burke, a plan was made to treat the hemlock trees in the Reservation with an insecticide on Arbor Day, April 29. Jason Lupien of Lupient Tree Service was organizing the program to prvovide the labor at no cost, if the Friends could purchase the insecticide. See the minutes of our April meeting (click here ). Unexpectedly, the DCR announced that they had decided to undertake the treatment at no cost to the Friends. Ken Gooch of DCR and two USDA staff did in fact treat the trees on May 23. Brian was there to observe during the morning. He reports that they did dozens of trees from the pathway to the overlook to Echo Bridge, including some of the very tall ones near the bridge that look pretty sickly. If the treatment works, the results should be spectacular. They said they were going to spend the rest of the day treating trees and that they had plenty of supplies. Arborist Ken Gooch of the DCR was at our June meeting to update us on the treatment of the hemlocks. At the moment the trees are in greater peril from the elongated hemlock scale than the adelgids. Lisa Barstow of the DCR updated us on the fence project, and Marti Rudi, also of the DCR, updated us on the stone building shingles. For more details read the minutes of our VERY informative June, 2016 meeting; to do so click here. Finishing the rehabilitation of the Eliot Street Bridge in 2017 State authorities anticipate completion this spring of the Eliot Street Bridge reconstruction the southern end of Hemlock Gorge Reservation. This will include restoration of the meadow. For details click here. To read Ken Newcomb's account of the long history of this bridge in Makers of the Mold, click here.
2016 Spring Cleanup
The Annual
Spring Cleanup of Hemlock Gorge was on
Saturday April 30, 2016.
It was a lovely day and everything went extremely well.
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Echo Bridge in Summer (Click for a larger image)
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Echo Bridge in Spring, 1997 |
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Stone Building
Windows News
The Stone Building windows and screens are installed. See pictures to
the right and below. We are planning a dedication event for the
spring, probably in April.
New Windows. View from inside the Stone Barn |
The installed windows |
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Feast in the Falls
Seana Gaherin and her volunteer committee
successfully arranged the second of her Upper Falls Residents outdoor luncheons on
June 23. The food was delicious and Jerry Reilly entertained us all
with grandeloquent rap singing. A grand time was had by all.
Our 2013
Spring Cleanup
went
well, though our invited guests were unable to attend. Most folks
seemed to think that putting a fence like that near the new spillway
should be our next project. We'll try to post some photos.
Spillway Dam Repair
News The
dam is completed and the dedication was held in late November, 2012. The
efforts of the Friends were recognized and President Brian Yates was
an invited speaker. New Resource Melissa Moody, a Girl Scout working with Site Supervisor Erica Aubin, has put in place a remarkable signage project running along the Quinobequin Road trail, downstream of Hemlock Gorge. Instead of static signposts, she has installed interactive signage with QR barcodes. Go have a look and bring your smartphone and QR barcode reader. It’s the future of nature trails, and we should plan something similar for Hemlock Gorge, perhaps with the Troop 242 Boy Scouts. Melissa's website is www.qbqtrail.org Very Impressive!
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The new landscaping at the stone building
The new spillway dam.
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2013 Adelgid News from Bob Burke
Stone Building Windows: Great News Windows are fabricated and have been installed! As soon as the prtective screens are put in front of them, we will be able to see and enjoy them--probably before 2013. Of course, we'll have to have a party to celebrate and thank the Sangiolos for their generous support of this much delayed project.
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Links
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Newton Tab Editorial Friends' activist Jerry Reilly had an editorial printed in the Newton Tab. Regrettably we do not have a link.
2012
Spring Cleanup
Friends of Hemlock Gorge’s Annual Spring Cleanup took place on
Saturday April 21 and was a big success. We had more than 30
volunteers on a perfectly wonderful spring day. We extend our thanks
to everyone who volunteered, to the DCR staff and Site Supervisor
Erica Aubin who provided support, and to Dunn-Gaherin's Restaurant who
generously provided lunches for the volunteers. For a photo album of
the event when available
click
here.
Website enhancements delayed
With regret we have to announce that modernization of our website is
delayed indefinitely. The "Memory House" at Hemlock Gorge Friends member Bob Burke not too long ago wrote a lovely guest columnist article about Hemlock Gorge and the Friends' activities that has appeared in the Newton Tab. Highly recommended. Click here to read it.
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Echo Bridge in the Fall
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Links
News Stories General Reservation News: We have moved older Echo Bridge stories that have appeared on our web site to our Archive of News Stories. This is where you will find news of awards, encroachment, politics and such. For news about key concerns of the Friends like the adelgids, Echo Bridge, and the Stone Building are below. In Waban, there was trouble with the trails along the river. See an opinion article and accompanying blog by Jerry Reilly and a front page news article, both in the Newton Tab. HISTORIC NEWTON WALKS Finding the History in Hemlock Gorge Reservation Sunday, June 22, 2:00 PM This walk took place on a gorgeous day, with about three dozen people in attendance. Everyone agreed that Hemlock Gorge is both a beautiful place to walk and the site of much historical importance as Newton's first industrial center. Old maps and photographs helped the group to visualize the mills that were located on the island and along the Charles River and to appreciate the importance of Worcester Turnpike/Route 9 to the area's commerce. The walk was expertly led by Lucy Caldwell-Stair, with whom the gourp found the site of the 1893 Echo Bridge Park amphitheater and the cave, the "Devil's Den," where Native Americans stored dried fish.
Summer 2014The woolly adelgid has now been in the reservation for some 15 years, and it is unclear how many of the hemlocks will survive.We have moved older adelgid stories that have appeared on our web site to: Archive of adelgid news stories. We have archived the entire saga of the adelgids' appearance, our efforts to pass legislation to combat them, the release of the predator ladybugs in 2001, and follow up analyses in the Friends' Adelgid News Stories Archive. Below are some highlights and links.
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A Stone Building News Archive is available by clicking here June 29, 2011 The new windows for the Stone Building, donated in 2002 and fabricated in 2008, are awaiting installation. March 1, 2006 In early January, the Friends of Hemlock Gorge succeeded in our application for a Public-Private Partnership with the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). The Friends earmarked $2500 for a new floor and other repairs to the Stone Building, and that amount will be matched by the DCR. We will post a copy of the correspondence soon. This means that our long hoped for plans to make the Stone Building a great venue for Friends' activities will soon become a reality (February 2006). The new floor will, hopefully, be followed soon by the new windows, for which funds have already been generously donated by the Sangiolo Trust. On February 23, we were notified by the DCR that they are preparing to pour the floor very soon, and that the Friends will be asked for input on design.
Echo Bridge News We have moved older Echo Bridge stories that have appeared on our web site to: Archive of Echo Bridge news stories.Click here to read the history of Echo Bridge as written by the late historian Ken Newcomb in his online book, Makers of the Mold, published by the Friends of Hemlock Gorge |
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| Occasional Notes:
The Joys of
Hemlock Gorge
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Four Seasons of Hemlock
Gorge
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Spring 2000 |
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Summer 2000 |
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Fall 2000 |
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Winter 2001, taken during the storm of March 5-6 |
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| Doug Cornelius posted a lovely account of canoeing through Hemlock Gorge
a few years ago with
pictures.
Click here to see it. Another collection of photos of Hemlock Gorge is at Boston Online: Click here to see them.
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Publications of the Friends
Makers of the Mold, a full-length illustrated history of the Newton Upper Falls community which borders Hemlock Gorge, is available only on the Web. Authored by Historian, Conservationist, and Friend Ken Newcomb, who passed away in 2002. Copies of the print edition of The Makers of the Mold can be purchased online and are also available at several local restaurants, convenience stores and cafes. The full list of outlets can be found here.
A Walking Tour of Hemlock Gorge
This work is available onl at this Web site.
1. Our most important Resource is People!
3. Contemporary Challenges Facing the Hemlock Gorge Reservation
4. Local Governmental, Civic, and Conservation Organizations Online
| The Friends were honored with a beautification award from the City of Newton in 1997. Click here for the story. Click on the small picture to see a larger image of the award. |
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