The Friends of Hemlock Gorge

December 11, 2018

Dear Friends of Hemlock Gorge:

2018 was another rewarding though challenging year for the Friends.

Having managed to complete the installation of new railings by the Stone Building, we are still looking to make arrangements for the repair of the building’s roof. After a successful spring cleanup of the reservation, we had a spring picnic on the meadow on a fine day in August, the repairs to Cook’s Bridge having been completed. However, extreme weather conditions forced cancellation of the fall cleanup. Jim Purdy retired as Treasurer and his position has been filled by Robin Dexter, who has become a great asset working on our behalf

In 2019, the Friends of Hemlock Gorge will continue our past activities, maintain our partnership with the Department of Conservation and Recreation and others and develop new ones to preserve and enhance Hemlock Gorge.

• We will work with DCR and the Army Corps of Engineers to restore the roof of the Stone Building on Route 9 in Wellesley and get to know the new Senator from Wellesley and Newton.
• We will work with the Echo Bridge Railings Committee led by Lee Fisher of Chestnut Street to build on their success in getting the Bridge designated as an endangered historic property by Preservation Massachusetts as a step towards getting it designated as a National Historic Landmark and securing funds to restore the railings in an historically appropriate manner.
• ·We will participate in the Charles River Cleanup sponsored by the Charles River Watershed Association in the spring and do an independent cleanup in the fall and work with our Waban neighbors to continue the cleanup along Quinobequin Road.
• We will partner with the Newton Conservators to eliminate as many invasive plants as possible in the Gorge.
• With the continued generosity of Karen Osborn, we will have another concert in the Meadow opposite the Echo Bridge office Park on the first Tuesday in August.
• We will consider field trips to sites like the Frederick Law Olmstead National Historic Site in Brookline, the Waterworks Museum across the street from the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, Hemlock Hill at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, etc.

To do all of this and much more, we need your help to build on our success.  

·        Our spring and fall cleanups need your continued participation.  

·        Our fundraising projects need your vocal and visible support as we ask Newton and Needham for Community Preservation Act funds and private donors to fund new railings for Echo Bridge.  

·        Please visit our web site at www.hemlockgorge.com and visit us on Facebook.

·        Finally, please attend our monthly meetings, usually on the first Tuesday of the month, at the Emerson Community Center on Pettee Street in Newton Upper Falls.

Thank you for all you have done for Hemlock Gorge Reservation in 2018 and for all you will help the Friends do in 2019                                                                                  

Brian Yates                                                            John P Mordes, MD

President                                                               Membership Coordinator and Webmaster