The Friends ofHemlock Gorge1094 Chestnut Street |
Welcome to the Home Page of the
Friends
of Hemlock Gorge Reservation, a
community organization dedicated to preserving and
improving Hemlock Gorge, a 23-acre reservation along the Charles River,
Hemlock
Gorge is a jewel of the Eastern Massachusetts
Metropolitan Parks System conceived by Charles Eliot in 1892.
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Fall Cleanup: The 2008 Annual Fall Cleanup took place on October 18, a really gorgeous fall day. We had an small turnout, but nonethelss a great deal of debris was collected. We also got to enjoy the restored lighting in the Stone Barn. Congratulations to Site Supervisor Erica Uramkin whose efforts made this happen. Stay tuned for news of the new windows. We send a big thank you to Seanna, Bob and everyone at Dunn Gaherins, 344 Elliott St, Newton, MA (617-527-6271) for again providing snacks and a terrific lunch last fall. These were provided to volunteers at no charge to the Friends!. Summer/Fall News: At the Picnic Site Supervisor Erika Uramkin announced that the first replacement windows for the Stone Building are being fabridated! Congratulations to Erica and DCR manager Kevin Hollenbeck for bringing this long planned effort close to a successful conclusion. Thanks also to John Sangiolo and Amy Mah Sangiolo whose Charles River Neighborhood Foundation Trust, made a gift of $1,000 to the DCR in October, 2000 to help pay for new windows. We also learned that the status of the adelgids and the hemlocks has not changed greatly. We are still awaiting a scientific assessment by State Forester Charlie Burnham. Next Meetings of the Friends: The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. at the Emerson Community Center on Pettee Street. It's a week later than usual because of Election Day on the 4th. For directions, click here. Agenda items will include:
To read the minutes of the September meeting, click here. 2008 Summer PicnicThe Friends' 2008 Summer Picnic took place under clear skies on Tuesday August 19. About 50 people came. Thanks to the generosity of Karen Osborn Shanley, we enjoyed a program of live jazz. Site Supervisor Erika Uramkin provided everything needed for our cookout, and a grand time was had by all.
Hank, was a long time member of the Friends, a personal friend to many of us, a community activist, and a gentleman. He was instrumental in helping the Friends to digitize and publish online historian Ken Newcomb's book, Makers of the Mold. We hope everyone will visit his memorial bench, which is located on the bluff that overlooks the silk mill. It will be a great place to come and look at Echo Bridge. A photo album of the event will follow soon. Stone Building News (February 2008): Site Supervisor Erica Uramkin reported at the February meeting that electrical service to the Stone Building has been restored. Though her efforts, NStar Electric was persuaded to inspect the feeder lines to the building, and the fault was found and corrected. For other news from the February meeting, click here. Adelgid News (May 2007): The Friends had news on May 12 from State Forester Charlie Burnham in regard to the Hemlock Woolly Adelgids (see our Adelgid News Stories Archive) and our release of ladybugs. Here is what he wrote: "I haven’t been there to look for beetles in a couple of years, but this past winter some of them showed up an another location where we hadn’t been able to find them since the release. This caused an increase in interest on recovery, so this summer we are going back to all the release sites to see if they got established. I have been in contact with Erica Uramkin and she want to come along when I do the looking. Right now it looks like this will be in June. I’ll let you know what I find. Charlie" We'll let you know when he shares his findings with us. Also: on June 10, 2007 The Boston Sunday Globe published an informative update on the woolly adelgid in New England, emphasizing the role global warming may play in the problem. Click here to go to the Globe article online at Boston.com. See below in our "Adelgid News" section for links to other articles. A July 17 story in the Newton Tab noted that the warm 2006-2007 winter (global warming?) has made the adelgid infestation this summer a particularly bad one. |
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Cleanups: The 2009 Annual Spring Cleanup will take place in May. Volunteers should meet at Hamilton place at 10 a.m. For a MAP showing the location, click here. Parking available at the Mills Falls parking lot. Spruce-up materials supplied and Refreshments provided for all volunteers! Please dress appropriately for the work and weather (rain or shine). Site Supervisor Erica Uramkin will be with us. The 2008 Fall Cleanup took place Saturday, October 18, 2008, 10 a.m. to 12 noon. It was the day before the Run of the Charles. We had an small turnout, but nonethelss a great deal of debris was collected. We also got to enjoy the restored lighting in the Stone Barn. Congratulations to Site Supervisor Erica Uramkin whose efforts made this happen. Stay tuned for news of the new windows. We send a big thank you to Seanna, Bob and everyone at Dunn Gaherins, 344 Elliott St, Newton, MA (617-527-6271) for again providing snacks and a terrific lunch last fall. These were provided to volunteers at no charge to the Friends!. Click here for the photo album of the 2008 cleanups. For an index of pictures from many of our Cleanups (some dating to 1999), click here. |
Echo Bridge in Spring |
Echo Bridge News Our collection of contemporary news stories about Echo Bridge has been archived. Click here to read the archived 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
On December 14, 2007 the
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) announced
that they will install new interim chain link fencing to replace the
deteriorated snow fencing along the existing railings at Echo Bridge. It necessitated brief closure of the bridge.
Click here to read the press release. In early January, the interim fencing was in place. It is a substantial improvement over the snow fencing. As you can see the fencing is black and the open mesh allows one to see the original railings, which are still in place. See the photo nearby and click here to see additional photos. The MWRA has compiled and released a detailed report on the Echo Bridge Railings. Some half dozen alternative approaches to repair and restoration are outlined in detail. Costs range from around $500,000 to $1 million. The report was discussed at length at our October meeting. There will be a public meeting to discuss the report and analyze options at Newton City Hall the evening of October 11. Details to follow. We will keep you posted. Click here to read or download the entire report. The Newton Tab had an article in late 2007 on the problem of funding the Bridge repairs and restoration. Click here to read it.
Our
2007 Summer Picnic
and Free Concert took p We had Greg Burroughs, a 21 year old vocal performance major at Berklee College provide music for us. He is a talented singer and songwriter. His musical influences are vast; ranging from artists as far apart as Keith Urban and Brad Paisley to Frank Sinatra, and Tony Bennet; The Beach Boys to the Eagles and Billy Joel to Phil Vassar. See photo to the right of Greg (right) and his fellow guitarist Kenny Silva. Click here to learn more more. The entertainment was made possible by the generous support of Karen Osborn Shanley. This year's picnic will be on August 5, 2008 Friends' President in the News: Friends' President Brian Yates was featured in a front page article in the Boston Globe on July 26, 2007. Click here to see it.
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News
Stories |
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![]() A picture of the new concrete floor in the Stone Building. Note there are no perimenter drains, as we had hoped for. Lunch and rest for the weary volunteers in the Stone Building by the Circular Dam in 2004. The new floor was the first step in improving this important venue for our activities. New windows should be in place in 2009. |
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The Silk Mill in 1905, before construction of the "Horseshoe" or Circular Dam. Note the lower water level. From a postcard recently found by Bonnie and Rick Pearson. Click for a larger image.
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Other News: | |
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The Friends are Honored by the Green Decade Coalition! On Thursday, June 16, 2005, The Friends of Hemlock Gorge were recognized with and Environmental Leadership Award by the Green Decade Coalition. Friends' Webmaster John Mordes had an opportunity to deliver a PowerPoint Presentation about the work of the Friends. Green Decade is an organization of people living or working in Newton and neighboring communities, including representatives of community organizations, institutions and businesses. They work together to create sustainable solutions to environmental problems facing the city and the world. |
![]() Friends President Brian Yates addresses the Green Decade Coalition after receiving their Environmental Achievement Award. GDC Official Peter Smith and President Beverly Droz is to the right.
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Here is a picture of the citation that the Friends
received in 2005 "For a significant contribution to preserving the environment." To read the entire text, click on the small image and a larger one will appear. |
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Quinobequin Road News! Some 12 years age the Friends suggested to the MDC, now the DCR, that something to control off road traffic on the section of Quinobequin road just downriver from Hemlock Gorge would be desirable to prevent vehicles from degrading the riverbank. We initially suggested a wood railing, but later, after hearing from neighbors, we thought that some large stones might be nicer and serve the same purpose. The Friends did not hear anything about this project for years, and then a guardrail installation was started in mid May--and then stopped a few days later! Neighbors had raised both safety and esthetic concerns. A meeting was held on May 31, 2005 at Newton Hall attended by neighbors, Mayor Cohen, and representatives of the DCR. It was agreed that the DCR and community would work together to find a better solution. In addition, at the annual meeting of the Waban Improvement Society on June 2, 2005, the Friends proposed that we work collaboratively with the WIS and DCR to assist in the design of parkland improvements on this section of the Charles River.
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![]() The Environmental Protection notice and small flags indicate where the guardrail would have been.
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The Rustic Footbridge is rebuilt October 2004 The rustic bridge by Artists' Point (see image below), connecting the Newton and Needham shores has been rebuilt. The photos to the right shows the concrete footings for the new bridge next to the deteriorated timbers of the old bridge, the bridge under construction, and the finished bridge as it was left in 2006. Click on the photos for larger images. Footings in, October, 2005
Echo Bridge from the Ken Newcomb Memorial |
Nearly complete, November, 2005 Brian on the new rustic footbridge at the spring cleanup, April 29, 2006. The steps to the bridge are arguably more primitive than rustic, one of many pieces of "unfinished business" in the Reservation. |
Ken Newcomb Memorial Dedicated Summer 2003 On Tuesday, August 5, 2003 more than 30 Friends of Hemlock Gorge and members of the family of the late Ken Newcomb gathered for our annual summer picnic and to dedicate his memorial bench at Artist's Point. To see more pictures of the memorial site, click here and to see a photos of the dedication celebration, click here. |
![]() The Late Ken Newcomb |
Ken is remembered as an historian and longtime Friend of Hemlock Gorge and author of A Walking Tour of Hemlock Gorge and Makers of the Mold, a full-length illustrated history of the Newton Upper Falls community which borders Hemlock Gorge. Several speakers, including Friends' President Brian Yates, recalled Ken's many contributions to the community, and the dedication concluded with the playing of Taps followed by dessert in the newly re-lit Stone Building. To see a photo album of the event click here. |
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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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Another collection of lovely photos of Hemlock Gorge is at Boston Online: Click here to see them.
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Political News: Governor Romney merges the former MDC into a new Department of Conservation and Recreation (July, 2003) Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's proposal to eliminate the Metropolitan District Commission has been accepted by the Legislature and signed into law as part of the fiscal Year 2004 budget. However, the Metropolitan Park Commission's spirit lives on. A new Department of Conservation and Recreation has been created in the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. It incorporates the former Department of Environmental Management (which includes the office of our friend and wooly adelgid expert Charlie Burnham) along with the former MDC. Each of the former operating departments now becomes a Bureau with one set of administrative offices for both. The original Metropolitan Park Commission which evolved into the Metropolitan District Commission by adding functions will be the Urban Parks and Recreation Bureau. Although not necessarily the ideal solution, it nevertheless preserves the identity of the Metropolitan Parks System conceived by Charles Eliot. The Charles River Conservancy has made available a detailed commentary on the matter.
******************************************************* 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. ******************************************************* State of Infestation (December
6, 2005) The Newton Tab declares the
Adelgid Vanquished! (2005) The Arnold Arboretum's
Response to the Adelgid (Winter 2005) Symposium on the Woolly Adelgid (February 2005) The USDA sponsored the Third Symposium on the Woolly Adelgid in the Eastern United States in 2005. Click here to read the report. Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Website (January 2005) The USDA Forest Service now has a website dedicated to the woolly adelgid. The site includes all the of the USDA's newsletters on the pest, pictures, and a great deal of technical information. Interestingly, the Forest Service is looking at several different control insects, not just the P. tsugae ladybugs we released. Click here to go the to US Forest Service adelgid website.
Release of the Ladybugs
(2001)
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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.
A Walking Tour of Hemlock Gorge
Both of these works are available only 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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