A treasure hunt at Simmons Pond

AtreasurehuntatSimmons Pond

Ann Katzenbach

Some people find retirement offers too many empty, unfocused days, but at the Simmons Mill Pond Management Area in Little Compton, you will find a retired couple who wouldn’t know an empty day if it walked through the front door. And they likely wouldn’t be home anyway.

Roger and Gail Greene are officially retired, but they are volunteer stewards for over 400 acres of state land, and that’s a full-time job since children, grown-ups, dogs, joggers, bird-watchers, fishermen, history buffs, photographers, boaters, skiers, school groups, boy scouts, and handicapped visitors make use of the land every day.

In 1995 Rhode Island purchased the acreage from the Chace family, who wanted its series of ponds, marshes, fields, forests, and stone walls to be preserved. Then the state realized that the property was so far from its headquarters in West Kingston that maintaining it wasn’t feasible. Luckily for the state (and the many people who love this area), the Greenes lived in the neighborhood and had been exploring the property for years. Most importantly, they had worked at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, the same agency in charge of the acreage.

The Greenes volunteered to look after the property, but waited until the state had burned down the Chace’s vacated cabin that had become a magnet for vandals and night-time parties. “It was an attractive nuisance,” says Gail. “No families wanted their kids coming here.” With the cabin gone, the Greenes got to work.

Their goal was to open up the historic laneways, tend to the woodlands, and groom the roads that the Chaces had built. They wanted the land to invite people of all ages to explore and learn.

Naturalinclinations If you visit there today, their success is obvious. It speaks to years of work and dedication and caring. Everywhere there are signs of their creative solutions to downed trees (make a bench), dog waste (make a scooper to launch it into the woods), signage (put information on the back of a wood plaque and ask visitors to turn it back over when they’ve read what’s there), identification (keep current with the seasons – when a flower dies back, take away the sign. When a mushroom pops up that could make you sick, put up a sign), and, most importantly, knowing where you are (maps and signs strategically placed and approximate times for the various loops).

Turning over the many hand-made wooden plaques to learn something about the trees, stone walls, wildlife, or rich history, is like going on a treasure hunt. Some of the information comes with illustrations and hand printing, done by Gail with a permanent marker at the dining room table. There is always something to be added or updated or cleaned or moved or mowed, so the Greenes are out there every day.

The best testament to their efforts is that appreciative community members also care for this special place. Visitors have added orange vests to the supply at the parking lot during hunting season. They clean up after others’ dogs. They turn over the plaques if someone else forgets to. An art student at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, made a beautiful map that greets you at the Coldbrook Road entrance. One woman has sewn special orange jackets for dogs – small, medium, and large. A mysterious volunteer plows the parking lot when it snows so that people don’t have to park on the road. “We didn’t know who it was for a long time,” says Gail.

Another story that speaks to the community’s involvement was the gift of a state-of-the-art mower by a local couple who saw the Greenes keeping the grass cut with push mowers.

If you visit, you might see Roger or Gail pushing a wheelbarrow or clearing a fallen tree or adding a sign. If you do, take a minute and thank them for all their hard work. Rhode Island, and especially Little Compton, is lucky to have such energetic, creative, devoted retirees.

The main entrance to Simmons Mill Pond Management Area is on Coldbrook (aka Colebrook) Road in Little Compton. There is another entrance on John Dyer Road, but there’s a seasonal brook to cross if you go that way.

The state stocks the ponds with trout and the fields and forests with pheasant each year. No motorized vehicles are permitted.

Ann Katzenbach has written for newspapers and magazines on art, travel, politics, and people. She has recently returned to the Southcoast after many years of nomadic life.