SHOP SUMMER
Trustees gear, beach essentials, and more, delivered right to your door.
Members save 10%
Martha’s Vineyard Students Create Tern Shelters
Terns can take shelter this summer on the Trustees’ Vineyard beaches thanks to the diligent and hard work of the freshman woodworking class at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. First-year high school students constructed dozens of tern shelters that will provide crucial safety spots for young tern chicks as they avoid predation. “The basic principle of the shelters is to provide refuge for tern chicks in areas where there isn’t much natural protection from predators, like vegetation or beach debris,” shared Shea Fee, The Trustees’ Coastal Ecologist for the Islands. Shea worked with colleague Molly Peach Mayhew, Education Manager, to establish the connection with the high school and interested students. Least and Common terns—both species of special concern under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (MESA)—nest on the beaches of Martha’s Vineyard each summer. Roseate terns are an endangered species under both the United States Endangered Species Act and MESA, which occasionally also nest on the Island’s beaches. “It is wonderful to engage youth across the Island with our work here at The Trustees,” shared Molly. “I am grateful to my friend, Billy Seaborne, and to his shop students for their fantastic work in crafting these shelters and hope to share success from their hard work as the shorebird season progresses.”
Trustees Trekkers Wins Jimmy Fund Award
The Trustees Trekkers, a group of 19 dedicated members and friends, participated in the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk this past October and took home an incredible honor. Formed by a small group of avid outdoors enthusiasts who met while taking part in the Trustees Hikers program over the past few years, the team was recognized with the 2023 Jimmy Fund Corporate Spotlight Award for going “above and beyond” by doubling both their number of team members and their fundraising. “We heard so many inspiring stories in preparation for the big event and during the Walk itself,” said Trustees Trekkers co-organizer Pat McDougal. “It’s such a fun group and we are thrilled and humbled to have been honored in just our second year!” Funds raised during the annual event, now going into its 36th year, support adult and pediatric patient care and cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. This year’s Walk is scheduled for Sunday, October 6, and the team welcomes new members to join them for this inspiring event. Contact team co-captain Pat McDougal at mcdougal.pat@gmail.com for information on how to join and support this worthy effort.
Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School students building their tern shelters earlier this spring.
Fruitlands Museum Galleries Open with Three New Exhibitions
In June, Fruitlands Museum launched three new exhibits to reframe the museum’s historic and contemporary collection of Native American Art. Housed in two newly renamed galleries, Across Boundaries Across Barriers; Place of Intersection: Survivance in the American West; and A Surreal Place: Sky Hopinka and Cannupa Hanska Luger honor the living history of Native American artistry. “Through these exhibitions and my continued work, we aim to indigenize our museum and gallery spaces in a way that is grounded in indigenous ways of knowing and the living presence of tribal nations,” said Tess Lukey, Associate Curator of Native American Art for The Trustees. Whether it’s centering the seven cardinal directions of several Eastern Woodlands communities, juxtaposing reality and stereotypes of the 19th- and 20th-century West, or video-based artworks reflecting on a sense of place, the living presence of these communities and their belongings become the dominant narrative told throughout the museum. These new exhibits represent the first step of a larger reconsideration of the existing gallery spaces at Fruitlands and are the first of their kind for The Trustees. For more information, visit thetrustees.org/exhibitions.
74 Years Later,
Painting Returns to Castle Hill
A large, mid-18th-century group portrait, originally owned by Mr. and Mrs. R.T. Crane Jr. and hung at their summer home, Castle Hill on the Crane Estate, has returned to the Great House. The painting of an anonymous family, attributed to the Anglo-American artist William Williams (1727-1791), was sold by the family at a 1950 auction of the contents of the mansion after the estate was bequeathed to The Trustees of Reservations. Although unsigned, the painting—depicting an interior scene with an English family of four, along with their pet terrier and governess—bears stylistic resemblance to other works by Williams that exist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and Winterthur Museum, among others. This past November, the painting came up for auction at Freeman’s in Philadelphia. “In all my 20 years of bidding on auction items to restore the Great House interiors, never have I found a definitively original piece up for sale, not to mention a work of fine art,” said Trustees North Shore Curator Susan Hill Dolan. “Although we knew of this painting’s existence, we had previously been unable to acquire it. But this time, despite competition, we were the successful bidders.” The painting has been re-installed in its original, prominent location above the high chest of drawers in the Stairhall. Fittingly, its installation occurred during May’s National Preservation Month and in time for this year’s 75th Anniversary of the protection of Castle Hill (see page 22).
Trustees Associate Curator of Native American Art, Tess Lukey.
Trustees North Shore Curator Susan Hill Dolan poses with the recently acquired painting, hung in its original location in the Great House at Castle Hill on the Crane Estate in Ipswich.
OUT AND ABOUT
Trustees reservations and community gardens were abuzz with activity this spring, as staffers worked on property clean-ups, new constructions, group planning sessions, and more, across the state—all in preparation for a big summer season ahead. If you see a staff member at work when you’re at one of our special places this summer, please introduce yourself as a Member and maybe, if you’re so inclined, pass along a hearty “Thanks for all you do” greeting. You’ll make their day!
1. Mulch Party: An enthusiastic group of Southeast regional staff lucked out with a gorgeous, but brisk day to take part in much-needed spring landscape refreshing at Armstrong-Kelley Park in Osterville.
2. Camp Champs: Directors from all seven Trustees Camps joined in for a day full of invigorating brainstorming and idea-swapping at a misty Rocky Woods in Medfield, as they worked to get ready for camp staff training in just a few weeks’ time.
3. Better Boating: Central and Valley Stewardship team members completed construction of upgraded boat access at Tully Lake Campground in Royalston, just in time for the opening of camping season!
4. Brick Fix: Following damage due to frost heaves, the brick patio at Virginia Monadnock Community Garden in Dorchester was re-laid, thanks to funding facilitated by Representative Christopher J. Worrell (D; 5th Suffolk).
5. Clearing the Way: As the winter snows melted, Trails Team members were out clearing fallen trees and other debris from our 350+ miles of trails. This big tree, at Brooks Woodland Preserve in Petersham, required a little extra leverage!
Hello!
As we draw ever closer to the longest day of the year my thoughts are on the coming summer, days filled with family and friends enjoying a beach or park, fireflies and games of flashlight tag, and the beginning of the gardening season (I’m a bit behind!). With the official start to summer just around the corner, as I write this, I wanted to thank you for being a member of The Trustees. Your support helps fuel our organization as we head into this busy season filled with new places to explore and opportunities to connect with nature and each other.
In this issue of Special Places, we bring you insights into the work that is important to us and helps The Trustees connect people with the natural world. This summer, we are opening our newest reservation at Moraine Farm in Beverly, a Frederick Law Olmsted-designed landscape that we are protecting for current and future generations of Trustees. We are thrilled to celebrate our latest Art & the Landscape installation of Perch by the immensely talented Jean Shin at Appleton Farms in Ipswich and Hamilton. If you are on the North Shore, please stop by to enjoy this interactive art exhibition and to learn more about how we balance agricultural land use with ecological management to protect important habitat for the bobolink, a bird species in decline. We also are honoring the 125th anniversary of Monument Mountain as a reservation. Monument Mountain in Great Barrington was one of the early acquisitions of the nascent Trustees of Reservations. This scenic place of wonder is sacred to the Mohican people and offers breathtaking views of the Berkshires and beyond.
I hope you enjoy the article on king tides, which impact many of our coastal properties and offer us a glimpse into some of the coastal challenges we’ll see more regularly with climate change. The article looks at the science behind this natural phenomenon and also explains how we roll with the tide to share stories with our visitors about the impact of climate change and the work we’re doing now and into the future to make our landscapes resilient.
Summer is the perfect time to get out and explore. I hope to see you out on the trail, the beach, in a community garden, or one of our historical properties. And I hope you have the time to pause and drink in the smells of a pine forest, the salty breeze at the beach, or the roses and wildflowers in our gardens. See you outside!
Katie Theorharides President and CEO
Home is Where the Art Is
New sculpture spotlights grassland bird habitats and agroecology
BY MEAGHAN FLAHERTY LAWTON TRUSTEES STAFF
Artist Jean Shin created all of the elements of Perch from reclaimed materials. The viewing platforms (“human perches”) came from several large dead yet majestic oak and maple trees found throughout the farm, and the bobolink perches (left page) were crafted from decommissioned split-rail fences, salvaged copper piping, and found American chestnut branches.
WWhen you pull into Appleton Farms, spotting sculptures may not be the first thing on your mind. A visit to one of the oldest working farms in America typically finds you shopping the farm store, picking up a meat or vegetable CSA, or engaging with educational animals in one of the barnyard programs.
This summer and fall you can add art and ecology to your list with the arrival of artist Jean Shin’s Perch, the newest installation of the Trustees’ Art & the Landscape initiative. Integrating with the agricultural and ecological landscape of Appleton Farms, Perch is the first artwork of its kind at the Trustees—exploring art, climate resilience, regenerative agriculture, and ecology.
For The Birds, Literally
On the farm, bobolinks—songbirds who make the long migratory journey from northern Argentina and neighboring areas and whose populations are in decline— are the primary birds that use the grasslands and hayfields as their nesting site. Artist Jean Shin (b. 1971, Seoul, Korea) worked with guest curator Jessica S. Hong, Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio to create sculptures and platforms for the bobolinks, as well as for visitors to respectfully view and monitor the population.
Ecology has long been part of the Trustees mission. In coordination with the organization’s ecology staff, volunteers
monitor birds in habitats across the many environments under the Trustees’ care in Massachusetts—from salt marsh sparrows in the North Shore’s Great Marsh to grassland species like Savannah sparrows and eastern meadowlarks in the Berkshires. At Appleton Farms, volunteers have been monitoring bobolinks since 2010. Shin notes, “After many conversations with the staff at Appleton Farms and The Trustees, I learned that the agroecologist and a group of volunteers were monitoring birds in the hayfields at Appleton. Their passion for bobolinks moved me to also fall in love with these migrating songbirds who build their nests in the farm’s grasslands.”
Focus On Agroecology
The intersection of ecology and agriculture, agroecology has been an important part of the Trustees’ work in recent years—
agroecological best practices are now promoted throughout all the organization’s working farms. Farms practicing agroecology balance ecological and agricultural priorities, focusing on imperatives such as improved soil health, increased carbon sequestration, and increased biodiversity. These priorities not only mean better food for us now, but stronger agricultural and ecological resources for future generations.
The Trustees’ Terracorps Land Stewardship Coordinator Isabel Bronson shares, “Bobolinks are one of 24 grassland obligate bird species in North America, meaning they are dependent on open fields, pastures, and grasslands that have wide open spaces free from trees and other obstructions. These birds rely on grassland habitat for survival, from feeding on insects and seeds to nesting on the ground in the cover of grasses.”
Isabel adds, “As a suite of species, grassland obligate birds have experienced a 34% decline in population. Bobolinks individually have experienced over 60% population decline within their North American breeding grounds, which range from New England, across the midwest, and into southern Canada.”
“Through Perch, Jean addresses the serious topic of the loss of biodiversity, but also highlights how places like Appleton Farms can and are modeling solutions through ecology and regenerative agriculture,” notes Mollie Armstrong, The Trustees’ Director of Projects and Exhibitions.
PHOTO BY MEL TAING
PHOTO BY MEL
Experience
Perch is on view at Appleton Farms through October 2024.
Reuse, recycle … create
Look for signs for Perch parking, pick up a Perch Field Guide, and follow special signage (also created from recycled material found at the farm) to see all 21 ‘trees’ from three viewing sites located throughout the property.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jean Shin—seen here working on Perch on-site in early spring—is known for her expansive sculptures and installations confronting societal and ecological challenges. Her process is research-driven and participatory, engaging deeply with the materials she works with and the placebased context for each project.
Appleton Farms
219 County Road • Ipswich, MA
Open daily, sunrise to sunset
For more information, upcoming programs focused on the installation, and more, visit thetrustees.org/perch
Jean Shin is known for using recycled and discarded materials in her projects. MAiZE, a recent installation at Figge Art Museum in Davenport, IA, was composed of thousands of discarded green plastic soda bottles forming an elaborate maze of cornstalk-like sculptures. Other recent installations include Tea House at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum—while museum staff and docents served tea, visitors were invited to string up their used tea bags on the structure to dry.
For Perch, Jean shared, “understanding where materials come from is an important part of my process. I love reclaiming materials that have a rich history through use. We salvaged old wooden fence rails from Appleton Farms and learned they were milled from the American chestnut trees that were once plentiful in this landscape. Decades old, these [fences] needed to be replaced, so these wooden rails became the structural materials for my ‘tree’ sculptures. Since this project was about how nature and the farms coexist, I wanted to create works that combined natural wooden elements of the landscape with the man-made elements of the farm.”
Armstrong adds, “Perch demonstrates the unique ways art can contribute to conversations about land conservation and caring for the environment—by making visible systems and natural processes that usually go unnoticed, by fostering appreciation for landscapes like grasslands and special places like Appleton Farms, and by encouraging us to truly slow down, to look, and to view the world in a new light.”
As the country’s first conservation nonprofit organization, The Trustees takes the dialogue of art and conservation very seriously. In recent years, its Art at The Trustees program has focused more deeply on nature, the environment, and climate resilience, with projects including Perch and
an upcoming installation planned for deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum called Nature/Sanctuary
Expansive hopes and possibilities
Shin shares, “Through my project, I wanted to highlight how special Appleton Farms is. [It’s] a place not only for humans, but more critically for generations of migrating birds who return to Appleton as their temporary home and breeding ground.”
Curator Jessica Hong adds, “Along with the significant themes this project explores—from temporality, regeneration, cycles of life, to interspecies relations and our entwined existences with the broader environment—this project demonstrates the expansive possibilities of art and artists’ practices. Beyond the curator-artist collaboration, this became a collaboration with farmers, ecologists, and arborists who helped shape the contours of Perch. Bridging the agricultural, ecological, and artistic and cultural, this project became a mutually generative space of learning, sharing, and building together, which is needed more than ever today.”
Shin continues, “By providing viewing platforms, I also wanted us to witness time unfold slowly and bring awareness to the cycles of nature, the changing seasons, agricultural time, migration patterns, and our own temporality. My sculptures are ghostly reminders of the past meeting the present. They also serve as markers in the regenerative landscape where the distances between us and the birds are visible. Creating structures for birds to perch, we can better count the number of visiting birds and their newborns. These hopeful sightings are important data sets to see how the farmers’ delayed haying at Appleton is having an ecological impact on [increasing] bobolink populations.”
To cover rotted areas of the tree cookie platforms, Shin utilized remnant pieces of copper roofing removed recently from The Trustees’ deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln.
PHOTO BY JESSE COSTA, WBUR
PHOTO BY MEL TAING
MORE TO EXPLORE AT MORAINE FARM
BY MEGHAN SHINN
“Many hands make light work,” the saying goes. In the case of Moraine Farm, a vast and beautiful historic property in Beverly, such cooperation has proven key. Here, partner groups—including The Trustees—have collaborated for decades to protect and preserve a landscape tied to renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.
Recently, The Trustees took on greater responsibility at Moraine, following its purchase of a key 66 acres in 2022. After months of preparations and stewardship by The Trustees, visitors can now enjoy a deep experience of Olmsted’s vision by walking the property’s trails.
“What I love about this property is how it feels both natural and designed,” said Pilar Garro, Director of the Long Hill & Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens Portfolio, which includes Moraine Farm. She explained that one will be walking through woods, then an opening will reveal a quaint view of a structure or fields—a memorable moment that elevates a quiet walk and epitomizes Olmsted’s work.
For a prime example of an Olmstedcrafted view, Cindy Brockway, The Trustees’ Managing Director of Cultural Resources, pointed to the meadow hemmed by the South Carriage Loop. This meadow looks entirely natural, but Olmsted built the gently undulating topography and strategically placed groups of trees to make the bordering woods’ edges curve in and out. These details provide a frame that subtly changes as one passes by, maintaining a picturesque scene.
Experience a classic Frederick Law Olmsted landscape at this newly opened Beverly reservation
Grand Beginnings
Moraine Farm was first created as a North Shore summer home for Boston businessman John Charles Phillips and his family. Phillips had purchased several neighboring farms in Beverly to assemble 275 acres of land bordering Wenham Lake. Central to these combined properties lay a moraine, a mass of soil and rock deposited by a moving glacier—hence the estate’s name.
In 1880, Phillips hired Frederick Law Olmsted to design the grounds of the estate. Olmsted’s proposal saw the land’s continued use as a farm, but an unexpected sort. The crop would be timber.
At this time in his career, Olmsted had completed designs for New York’s Central Park and the Capitol grounds in Washington, D.C., and he had started work on pieces of Boston’s Emerald Necklace, including the Arnold Arboretum. Though known for public landscapes like these, the acclaimed park maker also took on residential projects.
In both the public and private realms, Olmsted designed with a goal of fostering relationships. He laid out parks to provide scenic backdrops for all kinds of social activities. His designs allowed people to connect with each other and nature, and on a larger scale his public green spaces connected neighborhoods together. Similarly, he designed private grounds as collections of distinct yet related spaces where families could enjoy daily life together outdoors.
At Moraine Farm, which would be a precursor to his design at the grand Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, Olmsted created
picturesque spaces, including a sweeping meadow, a sheep pasture with a rill leading to the lake and an elevated lawn adjacent to the Phillips’s house, a stone-and-shingle, Tudor-like manor designed by the Boston architectural firm Peabody & Stearns.
The house itself was positioned atop a rise to hide any view of Wenham Lake from guests as they came up the driveway. The water would be revealed only upon reaching the home’s large back terrace, a feature on which Olmsted collaborated with the architects.
Olmsted also designed several scenic carriage drives at Moraine. These wide, winding paths looped through 75 acres of woodland and served as entertainment. The Phillips family could invite guests to ride the carriage roads and admire postcard-like views around each bend, as well as a vista from an overlook at the edge of 40 acres of farm fields.
Olmsted had improved the drainage in those fields to restore them to agricultural use. Most of the farming at Moraine, however, was devoted to forestry at his suggestion. His plan called for roughly 60,000 coniferous trees, mostly pines and larches, which would be raised to logging size.
John Phillips died in 1885—five years after he’d hired Olmsted and fifteen years before the project was declared complete. His wife Anna and their five children continued to use Moraine Farm as their summer home, and two sons eventually bought and built on adjacent lands. A few years after Anna’s death in 1925, the bulk of the Phillips land found new owners in the Batchelder family, who first purchased
141 acres and later added a parcel with agricultural buildings and the 40-acre fields.
Shared Visions
With the Batchelders, Moraine Farm found renewed life and, ultimately, a uniquely bright future. In the late 1970s, the property passed to George Batchelder III and his wife Mimi, who at the time lived on the West Coast. They soon returned east to live at Moraine Farm and carry on Olmsted’s vision for the land.
Forestry remained a focus, with timber felled for sale as firewood, lumber, and mulch; Christmas trees joined these woody crops, too. Ornamental shrubs and trees were grown on the site, some to sell and others to serve as replacements for aging specimens within the estate’s landscape. A herd of sheep and vegetable crops tended by leasing farmers rounded out the purpose of Moraine Farm—all against the backdrop designed by Olmsted.
The Batchelders consulted with Olmsted scholars and environmental experts to preserve Moraine’s beauty and enhance its health as a habitat for plants and wildlife. To continue this work in perpetuity, the family eventually decided to partner with several likeminded organizations, donating acreage to each group, but under a conservation restriction that prevents development on the land and preserves its Olmstedian roots.
The Trustees was a natural fit to receive a share of Moraine Farm; several other properties under The Trustees’ care were designed by Olmsted or his sons—such as Castle Hill in nearby Ipswich and World’s End in Hingham, which similarly features carriage roads and crafted views. VISIT
Moraine Farm 779 Cabot Street Beverly, MA 01915 WHEN TO VISIT
The Trustees’ portion of the land includes the flat agricultural fields, but these are leased to New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, a Tufts University program that trains new farmers and improves communities’ access to fresh, locally grown food. The Cape Ann Waldorf School and Project Adventure, a nonprofit that specializes in teambuilding through shared experiences, also received acreage from the Batchelder family.
Two other organizations, the Essex County Greenbelt Association and the Friends of the Olmsted Landscape, help preserve the land and landscape. The City of Beverly owns and maintains an abutting parcel known as the J.C. Phillips Nature Preserve, which contains remnants of one Phillips son’s house.
Another Turning Point
©TRUSTEES
In 2022, The Trustees bought Project Adventure’s acreage at Moraine Farm. The purchase was made possible through fundraising and a $1.1 million grant from the City of Beverly’s Community Preservation Fund.
The transfer of these 66 acres benefited all concerned. Project Adventure continues to operate on the site but can focus on its educational mission. Beverly residents have
the opportunity to grow their own food at the newly opened Moraine Farm Community Garden, developed in cooperation with The Trustees and now the only community garden in the city. There are 90 plots, including 3 accessible beds. As typical of a community garden, participants tend their own plot and contribute dues toward overall upkeep.
Meanwhile, all visitors to Moraine Farm can now enjoy the beautiful views Olmsted created. Trustees Senior Regional Stewardship Manager for the North Shore Jeremy Dick led the efforts to ready the property for opening. Working with the existing trail system, Dick and his team caught up on maintenance and made some adjustments for a better guest experience.
“We cleared invasive plants and overgrowth encroaching on the trails,” Dick explained. “We also opened up sight lines that feel appropriate to Olmsted. We kept the larger trees but removed some newer growth, allowing for deeper views into the forest.”
Your Visit
Moraine Farm is now open for walking and picnicking. The newly finished parking lot, which includes a kiosk with a trail map, abuts the Community Garden and the
J.C. Phillips Nature Preserve. The garden plots are to be admired only by sight, but visitors can follow the Nature Preserve’s Phillips Loop trail to reach The Trustees’ property.
Signs are posted to help with wayfinding and denote spots that are off-limits. In keeping with the spirit of sharing that has preserved this unique piece of land, visitors are asked to respect the boundaries of site partners, including the Community Garden, the New Entry fields, Project Adventure, and the Waldorf School, as well as private events taking place at the Main House and Pavilion, which has become a popular wedding venue.
Garro noted the bustle of activities by the groups sharing Moraine Farm as another detail that makes the place special. “They’re a reminder of the combined efforts to conserve the property,” she said, “and their presence makes it feel like things are happening in the background, without it seeming crowded. There’s plenty of quiet spots, but there’s also a feeling of a community.”
Olmsted would be pleased.
Meghan Shinn is Editor of Horticulture, a subscription-based magazine for avid gardeners.
FARM toTable
Cooking with CSA produce brings savory success
BY ROB BAROSSI, TRUSTEES STAFF
Not far west of Boston, among winding woodsy roads, residential neighborhoods, and a variety of conserved lands, lies the Trustees’ Powisset Farm. These 109 pastoral acres have felt the waxing and waning of agriculture for more than 300 years, but today a portion remains farmland through a thriving Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.
The Powisset Farm CSA is under the watchful eye of Field Crop Manager Tim Laird (pictured, right), who begins the process of seasonal crop planning in the short, dark days of winter, when he looks back in order to best move forward. “I’m looking at all that went well and the things that didn’t go well the year before,” Laird says. “And then I start working on our crop plan.”
That plan also includes conversations with other farmers, members of the Powisset community, and CSA members. Community connections and involvement flow throughout the CSA model, making it quite unique from other types of farms. “It’s definitely a way for people to be more involved in where their food comes from,” Laird says, describing it as a benefit to both CSA member and the farmer. “Being able to get feedback from members is invaluable and so is knowing exactly where your produce is going. I know that every week, 250 people are for sure going to show up at the farm to pick up their shares.”
What's Cropping Up
This year, Laird plans to include some new items in those shares, like sweet potatoes, which have not been grown at the Dover farm for some time. The pick-your-own field will also feature an exciting variety of produce, including twelve different types of hot peppers, cherry tomatoes, and fava beans, which Laird says “sets us apart from other area CSAs.”
Another person who enjoys the abundance of Powisset’s fields is the farm’s chef and culinary program instructor, Thi Bowles (pictured, left), who teaches cooking classes and prepares a variety of items sold in Powisset's Farm Store.
“I enjoy versatility when it comes to crops,” Thi says. “The more you can do with a plant, the better. Lemongrass, for example: It can be used in sweet or savory dishes, and if you chop enough down, you can use them as skewers to grill meats and
flavor the meat at the same time. If you have extra blades of grass, you can plug them into bouquets and enjoy the scent in your special spaces. It even repels bugs.”
As Chef Bowles puts it, she and Laird share a common job, to not only provide vegetables to the community, but also educate them on different ways to use the veggies, familiar and not-so-familiar, in their everyday diets. “We talk about ingredients a lot during cooking classes,” Thi notes, “We replace common vegetables with uncommon ones and show participants the flavor of a common dish won’t be ruined by substituting a different vegetable. In many cases, it will level up a dish you already love.”
On the Menu
Among other vegetables, Bowles is currently highlighting braising greens, sweet peppers, and radishes, in dishes such as (pictured, right) Butter Poached Radish with Lemon Gremolata, Green Eggs Benedict with Soy Hollandaise Sauce, and Spaghetti & Trustees Sweet Italian Sausage Meatballs with Romesco Sauce (Ed. Note: You can find the recipes for these dishes at thetrustees.org/farmrecipes.)
“Having a personal relationship with a grower who I know and trust is everything,” Bowles says, “And having a CSA program allows our community to have access to the freshest organic produce straight from the producer. Produce that is closer to home is more nutritious, has a longer shelf life, and connects you on a personal level to your farmer.”
Powisset Farm’s Assistant Field Crop Manager, Aubrey Dority, adds, “I’ve been involved in community supported agriculture on both the farming side and the eating side, and from both perspectives there’s nothing like it. On the eating side, it’s like getting a gift every week of produce you know is in season, local, and grown in a responsible way. From a farming perspective, it lets us grow relationships with community members who come to the farm regularly throughout the season or even multiple seasons. Those relationships help make the farm a source of community connection and pride, not just a source of food, which I think is incredibly special.”
Visit thetrustees.org/farms to find news about Trustees farms, including upcoming cooking classes and information on purchasing produce and meat CSA shares.
SOUTH COAST
Accessible Discovery Trail Opens at Copicut Woods
NEW TRAIL ENCOURAGES CURIOSITY AND EXPLORATION IN NATURE FOR ALL
BY KYLE DAVI, TRUSTEES STAFF
This summer, significant strides are being made for both inclusivity and interactivity at Trustees special places with the unveiling of a new Discovery Trail at Copicut Woods in Fall River. Designed to be more accessible and to encourage children to directly engage with nature, this quarter-mile path is the first of its kind for The Trustees.
“The Copicut Discovery Trail adds a captivating new layer to an already expansive and diverse South Coast reservation,” said Kristen Swanberg, Managing Director of Education and Engagement for The Trustees. “It’s the perfect place for young families—and those who might need a greater level of accessibility—to get absorbed in nature, where they might not have had an opportunity before.”
DESIGNED FOR INTERACTIVITY
An immersive experience awaits visitors of all ages, literacy levels, and abilities at five separate Curious Find stations along the accessible stone dust pathway. Each station acts as a gateway to a special inhabitant of Copicut Woods, like tactile woodpecker holes or viewfinders carved through rocks. Inviting visitors to get up close, the stations offer interactive elements and sensory experiences that foster a deeper connection with the local environment. But what truly sets the Copicut Discovery Trail apart is the commitment to accessibility, ensuring that everyone can partake in the joys of an outdoor adventure.
GROUNDED IN INCLUSION
“The accessibility component was critical right from the onset of the project,” said Sara Brunelle, Studio Director at Lu — La Studio, designers of the Copicut Discovery Trail. “Not just accessibility for those in a wheelchair or pushing a stroller to enter the space and engage with a Curious Find, but accessibility for children who might be preliterate or those who speak a different language, so everyone feels invited to participate and interact.”
Participation begins right from the parking area with a large entry banner marking the start of the journey, alongside a pictorial map (also available for download) that allows for multi-lingual and multi-age use. Each Curious Find station is designed with a child’s height and scale in mind and invites them to use their imagination to play in the woods.
INTENTIONALLY A GATEWAY
As part of a larger Trustees initiative to invite the next generation outside and to encourage curiosity about nature, the trail also acts as an entry point to the extensive network of the Trustees’ Copicut Woods reservation and the adjacent Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve trails. Visitors will find 50 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails, along with glimpses of the area’s agricultural past, though only the Copicut Discovery Trail is specifically designed for stroller users and those with accessibility needs.
VISIT
Copicut Woods Indian Town Road Fall River, MA 02790
WHEN TO VISIT
Open year-round, daily, from sunrise to sunset
ADMISSION
FREE to all visitors
INFORMATION thetrustees.org/copicut
the Commonwealth’s MassTrails Grants Program.
The Copicut Discovery Trail was made possible with support from
THINGS TO DO THIS SEASON… JOIN US!
Concerts. Picnics. Moonlight hikes. Outdoor wellness. Kayaking. Cooking. Historic House tours. Artmaking. There’s so much to do at Trustees reservations this summer, and so many ways to get inspired. Sign up and come make new friends at one of our special places— see you soon!
Good Fun in the Summertime
IT’S CONCERT SEASON
Summer concerts are back! Whatever your choice of music, Trustees has something for you. Castle Hill Picnic Concerts (Ipswich) present shows featuring Cuban-infused R&B-Rock-Reggae, Classic Rock, and Big Band Swing. The Harvard hills are alive with the sounds of the Concord Band, James Montgomery Band, An Evening with Chris Smither, and more as part of Summer Concerts at Fruitlands Museum. The deCordova Performance Series (Lincoln) is busy in July with The Suitcase Jacket
and Arias Aloft. And, for a unique and intimate acoustic experience, try Scenic Songs: A Hiking Concert with Seth Glier at Ward Reservation (Andover & North Andover). Music is also part of our Sunset Picnics on Thursday evenings at Weir River Farm (Hingham) and Powisset Farm (Dover). These are great ways to launch the weekend—spread out a blanket, enjoy farm-fresh food, sip on a cool bev, and enjoy local live music all while taking in the last rays of the day’s sun. It’s summer at its finest!
IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS
From Full Moon Hikes at World’s End (Hingham), Chestnut Hill Farm (Southborough), Powisset Farm, and Crane Beach (Ipswich) to a Full Buck Moon Sculpture Tour at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum and a Full Moon Kayak with Adventure East at Tully Lake Campground (Royalston), there’s no shortage of moonlit adventures this summer. For kayak enthusiasts, CraneOutdoors has loads of
Summer 2024 Highlights & Special Events
A glimpse at just a few of the hundreds of things to do at our special places across the state this season. For a list of upcoming programs curated just for Trustees Members, including registration and ticketing information, visit thetrustees.org/curatedevents. We hope to see you at one of our reservations soon!
Arias Aloft: Euphoria
Circus 617 and Opera on Tap Boston combine two thrilling art forms for a one-of-a-kind, magical evening of opera, musical theater, cabaret, and circus in a stunning outdoor location.
SUNDAY, JUL 14 | 6-7:30PM
deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln
SATURDAY, AUG 3 | 6-7:30PM
Governor Hutchinson’s Field, Milton
Summer Scary Movie Night
Join us for two movies sure to send chills down your spine even on a warm summer evening, brought to you by our friends at Coolidge Corner Theater. Enjoy popcorn, candy, beer, and seltzer for purchase at the pavilion. After the movies, stay the night and camp out under the stars!
SATURDAY, JUL 20 | 8PM-12MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, SEP 13 | 8PM-12MIDNIGHT
Rocky Woods, Medfield
It’s Concert Season!
Whatever your tune, find your perfect blend of live music, stunning scenery, and warm weather fun with The Trustees. Visit thetrustees.org/concerts for schedule details and tickets. Castle Hill Picnic Concerts; deCordova Performance Series; Fruitlands Summer & Fall Concerts; Weir River Farm Sunset Picnics
Scenic Songs
Join us on the trail with some of your favorite performing artists for a guided hike and intimate live music experience like no other. These unplugged and acoustic shows are unique opportunities to enjoy live music in community and nature. Go to thetrustees.org/ scenicsongs for schedule details and tickets.
SATURDAY, JUL 13: SETH GLIER
Ward Reservation, Andover & North Andover
SATURDAY, SEP 21: VANCE GILBERT
Rocky Woods, Medfield
PHOTO COURTESY CIRCUS 617
©TRUSTEES
Summer Send-Off at World’s End
Join us to celebrate the end of an amazing summer with a concert with The Birch Swart Band at World’s End. The top of Planter’s Hill is the destination for music, food, local craft brews, and an incredible sunset over the Boston skyline.
SATURDAY, AUG 24
World’s End, Hingham
CraneOutdoors Kayak Adventures
Kayaking season at the Crane Estate runs through mid-October. Enjoy a broad portfolio of professionally guided adventures, including the fan-favorite Choate Island Kayak & Hike trip, historic Fox Creek paddle, and memory-making sunset paddle. Details at thetrustees.org/craneoutdoors
The Crane Estate, Ipswich & Essex
Roaring Twenties Lawn Party
Immerse yourself in the social life of the Cranes! This popular two-day event features 1920s & 30s jazz on two stages, flappers and dandies, antique automobiles, lawn games, dancing, contests, a vintage fair, and more. Details at roaringtwentieslawnparty.org
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, AUG 3 & 4
Castle Hill on the Crane Estate, Ipswich
12th Annual Craft Festival at Fruitlands Museum
Fruitlands Museum’s picturesque grounds come alive with artisans from all over New England. Top quality craft, museum offerings, and stunning views make this festival an ever-popular destination— the perfect fall outing to plan your holiday gifts for family and friends. Details at thetrustees.org/craftfestival
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, SEP 21 & 22
Fruitlands Museum, Harvard
©TRUSTEES
Fall on the Farms
From Fall Festivals to Oktoberfest, there is so much to see and do on Trustees farms this fall! Keep an eye on thetrustees.org/ fallfarmfun for details as autumn approaches.
Appleton Farms, Hamilton & Ipswich; The FARM Institute, Edgartown; Powisset Farm, Dover; and Weir River Farm, Hingham
For a FULL LISTING OF PROGRAMS not shown here, visit thetrustees.org/things-to-do
©TRUSTEES
©TRUSTEES
©TRUSTEES
PHOTO BY KAREN WONG PHOTOGRAPHY
ART & EXHIBITIONS
EXHIBITIONS
ON VIEW
For more information on these and all Trustees exhibitions, visit thetrustees.org/exhibitions
FRUITLANDS MUSEUM
102 Prospect Hill Road, Harvard
ACROSS BOUNDARIES
ACROSS BARRIERS
Ongoing
Using several Eastern Woodlands communities’ framework of seven cardinal directions (north, south, east, west, up, down, and center), this exhibit features historic and contemporary works of art from several Native American communities centered around the personal body, seasons, colors, times of day, and other concepts associated with each direction.
PLACE OF INTERSECTION: SURVIVANCE IN THE AMERICAN WEST
Through May 6, 2025
Pairing stereotypical “still lives” of what the west was like when it was “won” in the 19th and 20th centuries with works made by native communities, this exhibit uses paintings, lithographs, photography, beadwork, rawhide, and basketry to bridge the gap of understanding of what this cultural landscape was truly like.
DECORDOVA
SCULPTURE PARK AND MUSEUM
51 Sandy Pond Road, Lincoln
HUGH HAYDEN: HUFF AND A PUFF
Ongoing
Forging conversations around the myths and markers of American identity, this slanted replica of the one-room home where Henry David Thoreau wrote Walden conveys a surreal, tensioned force upon this iconic landmark that is often a modern-day pilgrimage site.
APPLETON FARMS
219 County Road, Ipswich
JEAN SHIN: PERCH
Through November 1, 2024
HISTORIC SPACES
ASHLEY HOUSE
Sheffield
Visit the Elizabeth Freeman Interpretive Center examining the life and legacy of the woman who helped end slavery in Massachusetts.
THE GREAT HOUSE AT CASTLE HILL
Ipswich
Open Tuesdays–Sundays; tours run hourly. Advance passes are recommended.
THE GUEST HOUSE AT FIELD FARM
Williamstown
Take a free self-guided tour of the property to uncover 13 permanent sculptures.
LONG HILL
Beverly
The main house is open on weekends only. The gardens are free and open daily through October 30.
THE MISSION HOUSE
Stockbridge
Stop by the exhibit Our Lands, Our Home, Our Heart / Nda’keenã, Weekeyaak, Nda’anã, open through September 1.
NAUMKEAG
Stockbridge
A SURREAL PLACE: SKY HOPINKA AND CANNUPA HANSKA LUGER
Through November 4, 2024
Focusing on the works of two artists, Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk/Luiseño) and Cannupa Hanska Luger (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota), this installation features a pairing of single-channel, video-based artworks that reflect on a sense of place grounded in indigenous realities and identity.
With Appleton Farms’ storied history and current ecological and agricultural activities, Jean Shin’s Perch—the sixth commission made possible by the Trustees Art & the Landscape initiative— explores temporality (ecological and agricultural time) and regeneration by integrating into the landscape to visualize, amplify, and raise awareness around the bobolink population and its habitat. (See story, pages 4-6.)
Book early for a self-guided tour of the house, guided garden tour, or specialty “Backstairs Tour” (through August).
THE OLD MANSE
Concord
Preregister for a guided tour of the house— running hourly Thursdays–Sundays—or for specialty tours on weekends.
STEVENS-COOLIDGE HOUSE & GARDENS
North Andover
Take a stroll in the gardens Thursdays–Mondays through October or tour the main house on weekends.
Tvpishuk, 1920 – 1950. Artist once known, Chahta (Choctaw). River cane and bloodroot dye; Across Boundaries Across Barriers, Fruitlands Musuem.
tours throughout the summer, including the popular Choate Island Kayak and Hiking Adventure, as well as trips on Castle Neck River and Historic Fox Creek, among others. And if peace and calm are your motivating forces, try Yoga in the Gardens at Long Hill (Beverly) or Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens (North Andover), or Mindfulness Meditation or Sunset Yoga at Naumkeag (Stockbridge).
FOR THE CURIOUS MIND
If an adventure for the mind is more your speed, Trustees’ historic houses have wonderful tours and special events all summer. Be sure to take advantage of the rare opportunity to take a Mission House Guided Tour (Stockbridge) or the Naumkeag Backstairs Tour. The Old Manse (Concord) provides new ways to explore its rich history, with Flipping the Script: The Women of the Manse or American Contradictions: Slavery and the American Revolution, among other tours. Castle Hill on the Crane Estate’s popular tours are in full force, with a special Little Women at Castle Hill tour in mid-July.
And at Long Hill, come Celebrate Japan! on Saturday, July 13, with workshops on the ancient Japanese arts of Suminagashi (marbling) and Ikebana (flower arranging), along with a Bonsai Demonstration.
WE’RE HERE TO HELP
Trustees has your weekend inspiration in mind! Look for our Things To Do This Weekend page at thetrustees.org/ weekend where you’ll find detailed listings of everything happening at Trustees properties, with links for signing up. Weekends need to be easy and Things To Do This Weekend is here to help! Also, check out our Events Curated for Members page at thetrustees.org/ curatedevents for a selection of events and programs that should be of special interest. There you’ll also find links to our downloadable six-week listings calendars. These are updated every month, so you’ll always be able to find out what’s happening soon at a reservation near you. Bookmark the page and you’ll never miss a program or event—there’s never a dull moment at Trustees reservations!
As always, schedules are subject to change, so please be sure to check thetrustees.org/ things-to-do for the latest program information and to use your Member discount when you sign up.
Friday, Nov 29 – Saturday, Jan 4
Naumkeag STOCKBRIDGE
Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate CANTON
Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens NORTH ANDOVER
Wednesdays-Sundays (EXCEPT CHRISTMAS DAY) Sign up to receive alerts when tickets go on sale, at
ALL PHOTOS @TRUSTEES
THE MISSION HOUSE STOCKBRIDGE
ROLLING WITH THE TIDES
Up and down the coast, Trustees works to mitigate the devastating effects of climate change
BY JOSEPHINE BRENNAN, TRUSTEES STAFF
BY
PHOTO
M. SAYLE
The climate is changing, and so, in turn, is the coast. The Trustees stewards 75 miles of protected and publicly accessible coastline, but in recent years many of the organization’s coastal reservations have seen significant impacts from surge, tides, and storms that threaten these special places. From the shores of Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge on Nantucket to the beloved Crane Beach in Ipswich, the water and weather have created unique challenges for Trustees staff to overcome.
KING TIDES AT CRANE
Argilla Road is iconic in Ipswich. The gateway to the Crane Estate, which sits perched at its end, Argilla Road is being inundated—facing increasing challenges because of rising sea level exacerbated by more frequent and severe storms. This essential road—a key point of access for residents, anglers, clammers, and visitors alike—and its surrounding landscape
were identified as one of The Trustees’ properties most susceptible to climate change impacts by an extensive climate vulnerability assessment carried out in partnership with the Woods Hole Group in 2017.
In recent years, king tides—or, as they are known scientifically, Perigean Spring Tides—have made certain points on Argilla Road inaccessible for hours at a time. The term “king tide” is a non-scientific term referring to the highest seasonal tides that occur each year. And those tides keep getting higher.
According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, king tides happen when full or new moons and lunar perigees happen at the same time. At new and full moons, tides tend to be higher and lower than average, as gravitational pull causes the oceans to ‘bulge’. Combined with a lunar perigee, when the moon is closest to the Earth—which happens once every 28 days—tides become even larger, with the added gravitational pull sometimes producing an additional three feet of tidal surge at high tide.
King tides, combined with seasonal changes, can cause severe coastal flooding in low-lying areas, as is often the case on Argilla Road. Experts expect that king tides and the flooding associated with them will only continue to increase as the climate continues to change. In fact, even on
sunny days without storm surge, Argilla Road can flood, meaning that several times this summer season visitors will need to plan around the tide as they head to and from the beach.
These tides can also cause coastal erosion that deteriorates natural landscapes, infrastructure, and cultural resources like the Ada K. Damon shipwreck on Steep Hill Beach on the Crane Estate. King tides continue to negatively impact this culturally valuable artifact.
The Trustees, in partnership with the Town of Ipswich and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, is committed to making Argilla Road more resilient. As reported in previous issues of Special Places, a joint project to raise the road and expand culverts to improve drainage is moving forward and should be completed in a few years’ time. The Trustees also is working to make vast improvements to the resiliency of the Great Marsh, which abuts Argilla Road.
For the team at the Crane Estate, king tides have also become a source of knowledge-sharing and education about the impacts of climate change. At the King Tide Hike, for example, visitors get a chance to dive deeper into the impacts of these astronomical events and see the effects first-hand from the Castle Hill property. “One thing that makes this more hopeful is being able to celebrate learning, being ambassadors of these issues, and just
Above Left & Far Left: Trustees staff and volunteers planted beach grass on retired Over-Sand Vehicle (OSV) trails at Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge on Chappaquiddick Island. The project’s goals include increasing overall system resilience while maintaining OSV and pedestrian access to popular fishing and recreation areas at the Refuge. Near Left: Dune erosion at Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge on Nantucket.
Royal Inconvenience: King tides regularly inundate Argilla Road, the only access to the Crane Estate in Ipswich, seen here at low and king tides along the road (above) and at the entrance gate to Crane Beach.
talking about what’s going on locally,” said Val Perini, The Trustees’ Regional Education Manager based at the Crane Estate.
RECENTLY ON THE REFUGE
On Nantucket this year, Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge (CCWR) experienced an extremely wet winter. Exposed and low-lying land, which is predominant at the Refuge, is sensitive to a changing climate and among the first affected by the impacts of rising sea levels. This has never been felt more keenly than over the past winter, when flooding from the Atlantic Ocean and Nantucket Harbor shut down access to the Refuge for 90+ days. Further, closures weren’t only caused by storms—a high tide and a stiff breeze from the right direction was all that nature needed to sweep through CCWR’s dune systems and beaches, flooding refuge trails in several feet of salt water.
On the bright side, though, access issues faced by humans over the winter meant plenty of space and quietude for wildlife, specifically colonies of gray seals which regularly hauled out to enjoy the crisp and mild weather. CCWR is a critical breeding and pupping site for gray seals, helping the seal population recover after being nearly exterminated by hunting in the 1960s and 70s.
BARRIER BEACH RESILIENCE
In late 2023, Trustees’ properties on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket were awarded a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant for restoration and
resiliency. $380,000 was allocated to support the Building Beach and Saltmarsh Resilience to Protect Island Communities in Massachusetts project; a partnership between The Trustees and local agencies on each island, including Nantucket Conservation Foundation, Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission, Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, BiodiversityWorks, and Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group. This effort is currently in the early stages of engaging community members and consultants to carry out site assessments, feasibility studies, and preliminary restoration designs for barrier beach and salt marsh sites on both Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
As a parallel effort to help build barrier beach resilience, American beachgrass (Ammophila brevigulata) was planted by Trustees stewardship staff and volunteers on a retired Over-Sand Vehicle (OSV) trail on Martha’s Vineyard’s Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge in late March. The trail was retired because the marsh had begun migrating into the trail—allowing space for the marsh to thrive provides greater resilience to the
Left: Tidal flooding cuts off access to CoskataCoatue Wildlife Refuge. Flooding from the Atlantic Ocean and Nantucket Harbor shut down access to the refuge for more than 90 days this past winter. Below: A pair of gray seal pups, still in their white baby fur, rest on the beach at Coskata-Coatue. The Refuge is a critical breeding and pupping ground for this protected species.
overall beach-dune complex. This is also an essential area for wildlife, as it provides a buffer to critical Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) habitat from increased flooding and rising tides.
This planting project built on previous work carried out in the area, as the OSV trails in this portion of the refuge were recently nourished with dredge spoils from Cape Poge Bay in a partnership between The Trustees and the Town of Edgartown. All of these efforts also have been supported by DMF funding and have been carried out in accordance with local Conservation Commission guidelines and The Trustees’ Beach Management Plan for Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge.
REFLECTING ON A CHANGING COAST
“While flooding and environmental challenges will only increase in duration and intensity, we and all of our visitors will continue to enjoy this wild and beautiful property as long as we have it,” shared Morgan Sayle, Gatehouse Manager at Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge. Perini added, “It can feel overwhelming, but talking about things and continuing the dialogue can remind us we are all in this together, and lead to collaboration on solutions and positive change.”
To keep up to date on the many Trustees efforts to help mitigate the effects of climate change on our reservations and beyond, visit thetrustees.org and follow our blog posts on the Coast & Sustainability thread.
PHOTO BY M. SAYLE
PRIDE Proudly Celebrating
In June, Pride is celebrated across the United States. A celebration of the resilience and strength of LGBTQ+ people, the month recognizes the effect of the LGBTQ+ community at every level, from local work to international impact. At The Trustees, Pride month provides an opportunity to invite and welcome all members of the LGBTQ+ community to the organization’s special places and to its engagement events. Being a part of Pride furthers the Trustees commitment to being an accessible and welcoming organization, not only during awareness and visibility months, but throughout the year.
PROGRAMS ACROSS THE STATE
This June, Pride was celebrated in style. With signature events like the Berkshire Pride Tea Dance at Naumkeag, a full day of celebrations at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, and other gatherings at reservations throughout the Common-wealth.
“These events say, without a doubt, that all are welcome here,” shared Brian Cruey, The Trustees’ Regional VP for the Western Hills & Berkshires.
Trustees’ Pride events
foster
inclusivity and belonging
BY JOSEPHINE BRENNAN, TRUSTEES STAFF
The Berkshire Pride Tea Dance, held annually at Naumkeag, continues the tradition of creating an all-inclusive space for folks to be themselves without reservation. “The Tea Dance is a benefit to the larger community around Naumkeag,” noted Cruey. “It’s an opportunity to support Berkshire Pride and brings with it the satisfaction of welcoming new audiences and introducing new people to the Trustees mission and our special places.”
A PARADE TO REMEMBER
This year, for the first time, The Trustees participated in the Boston Pride for the People parade, a celebration that transforms the city. The organization’s LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group (ERG), Trustees Pride, and allies from across the organization mobilized for a memorable day in the community.
The Trustees established Trustees Pride as a way to ensure that LGBTQ+ employees could find support and be heard within the workplace. The group dedicated themselves to participating in this year’s parade in Boston as part of that effort, rallying staff from all areas of the organization to construct a
Above, counter-clockwise from top: The Pride flag flies at Fruitlands Museum, Harvard; Decorations are in place for the Berkshire Pride Tea Dance at Naumkeag, Stockbridge; the Trustees float and staff represent at the Boston Pride for the People parade.
float of recycled and reused materials that captured the essence of the 120+ reservations stewarded by The Trustees. The ERG, allies, volunteers, and families from across the state all came together to march down the streets of Boston to loudly and proudly proclaim that The Trustees is for everyone.
“Putting together this float and organizing our participation in the parade has been a labor of love,” said Renée Gannon, Social Media and Digital Content Manager, and Co-Chair of Trustees Pride. “I am excited to see the work we’ve done in June continue throughout the year. This is only the beginning!”
To learn more about The Trustees’ Pride events happening throughout 2024, visit our website and follow us on all the major social media platforms.
TRUSTEES HISTORY
Monuments of Conservation
Significant reservations celebrate anniversaries this year
2024 marks milestone anniversaries of the protection of eight Trustees special places. For each, the story of their protection involves extraordinarily generous landowners, dedicated to conservation and a passion for ensuring their land would, after their passing, be made available and open to the public for use by everyone, forever. In these pages, we present the stories of four of what are some of the most popular Trustees reservations to this day, excerpted from the book Saving Special Places, compiled and written by the organization’s first Executive Director, Gordon Abbott, Jr., on the occasion of its 100th birthday, in 1991.
Monument Mountain
GREAT BARRINGTON
125th anniversary of its protection in 1899
In 1899, Miss Helen C. Butler gave The Trustees approximately 260 acres of land on Monument Mountain “in fulfillment of a wish of the late Rosalie Butler [her sister], that it might be preserved forever for the enjoyment of the public.” While the gift included the summit and the mountain’s steep eastern face, it did not include the western slope. Those acres remained in private hands, undisturbed, until 1984, when a developer submitted a proposal to build a cluster of 210 residences on 164 acres overlooking the Housatonic River and the town of Great Barrington.
Townspeople, upset at the prospect of losing the wild and scenic hillside to development, rallied to raise funds for The Trustees to purchase the land. Key to the success of this effort was local farmer Stephen Root, whose land would have been needed by the developers to access the mountainside acreage, and who decided to place a conservation restriction on his land for a fraction of the money he would have received from the developers. Said Root, “I like living here, but I didn’t want to live here if that [development] was there.” Mr. Root passed away just a few years ago and his orchards have now been transformed into a new western access point for the public to enjoy this fabled mountain and its spectacular 360° views of the Berkshires and New York’s Catskills.
Castle Hill on the Crane Estate
IPSWICH
75th anniversary of its protection in 1949
Several years after deeding 943 acres at Castle Neck to The Trustees in 1945 in honor of their late patriarch Richard T. Crane, Jr. and establishing Crane Beach as permanently available for the public’s use and enjoyment, the family came to another milestone. Richard’s wife, Florence Higinbotham Crane, passed away in 1949, and
PHOTO BY JAY BURNHAM PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTO BY RICHARD CHEEK
Monument Mountain GREAT BARRINGTON
their children, Cornelius and Florence, determined it was time to donate some 300 acres of Castle Hill and Cedar Neck to The Trustees, while maintaining smaller parcels of the family’s estate for their own use. Included with the Castle Hill gift was the Great House, Casino complex, and outbuildings, as well as the gardens, Grand Allée, and Steep Hill Beach. Today, Castle Hill is a National Historic Landmark which welcomes thousands of visitors annually to delight in the remarkable estate with its marvelous gardens and spectacular halfmile-long Grand Allée stretching from the Great House to the ocean’s edge.
Crane Wildlife Refuge on the Crane Estate ESSEX
50th anniversary of its protection in 1974
Richard T. Crane, Jr., had purchased Hog Island—the largest in the cluster of five islands southwest of Castle Neck—in 1916. He removed summer cottages and began a careful restoration of the landscape and, in 1919, oversaw restoration of the island’s historic centerpiece, the Choate House. When son Cornelius died in 1962, it was his wish that he be buried at his beloved island, now known as “Choate” in honor of the family that had resided there for nearly two centuries prior. Cornelius’s wife, Miné, gifted the island, along with four other islands (Long, Round, Deans, and Dilley) and the surrounding salt marsh—some 650 acres in total—to The Trustees in 1974, to be preserved as the Cornelius and Miné S. Crane Wildlife Refuge. Today, visitors enjoy kayaking around the coastal islands and venturing ashore to explore the trails of Choate and Long Islands. If they’ve left enough time, many make the longer hike up to the top of the hill to visit the graves of both Cornelius and Miné.
Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge, NANTUCKET
50th anniversary of its protection in 1974
In the late 19th century, the area of Wauwinet on Nantucket’s northeastern shore had become popular with visitors, due in no small part to the new Wauwinet House Inn, built and owned by the Backus family. By the 1920s, Allen Backus began buying up portions of Coskata and Coatue, the sandy spits of land extending for miles to the north and east of the island. Then, in December 1974, after a lengthy process, Allen’s widow Harriet and her son-in-law, Robert W. Sziklas, transferred title to 810 acres of their land to The Trustees, establishing Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge. Harriet and Allen loved the area and knew that it was much appreciated by both townspeople and summer visitors alike for the wild beauty of its landscape. Wanting to preserve the land but dismayed by local politics, Harriet determined that it should be held by an organization free of local influence, preferably from “off island.” After careful consideration and research, she selected The Trustees.
The Backus family’s gift, extraordinary in its generosity, preserved one of Nantucket’s most dramatic landscapes. Shortly after the Refuge was established, Professor and Mrs. Christoph K. Lohmann donated 186 additional acres. Today the refuge also includes land preserved by the Nantucket Conservation Foundation and totals over 1,100 acres. Popular with fishermen and adventurous hikers, it remains a haven for shore and sea birds, seals, and many other species.
Learn more about these special places, including the historical use of the land by indigenous peoples, by visiting thetrustees.org
Other Anniversaries of Note
2024 also marks significant milestones since the protection of these reservations:
Bridge Island Meadows
MILLIS
50th anniversary of its protection in 1974
Weir River Farm HINGHAM
Dexter Drumlin LANCASTER
Peaked Mountain MONSON
25th anniversary of their protection in 1999
The Doyle Center LEOMINSTER
20th anniversary of its opening in 2004
Celebrating another milestone anniversary, the Doyle Center, The Trustees’ only LEED Gold certified building, was opened 20 years ago in June 2004. At the time the largest capital project ever undertaken by the organization, the center is a model of sustainability—featuring desks made from sunflower hulls, floors of cork and bamboo, composting toilets, geothermal wells, and landscaping with native plants that require no irrigation.
© TRUSTEES
PHOTO: TRUSTEES ARCHIVES & RESEARCH CENTER; COSKATA-COATUE COLLECTION
PHOTO BY K. NOTMAN
PHOTO BY F. SITEMAN
Dexter Drumlin LANCASTER
We love seeing your photos and videos of Trustees special places! Share them on your favorite social media platform, add #thetrustees to your post so we see them, and we will select our favorite images to share in this gallery.
Many of your favorite properties are also on social media. To find out the details, visit their pages on the Trustees website, at thetrustees.org
Eruptive lightnings flutter to and fro
Above the heights of immemorial hills; Thirst-stricken air, dumb-throated, in its woe
Limply down-sagging, its limp body spills
Upon the earth. A panting silence fills
The empty vault of Night with shimmering bars
Of sullen silver, where the lake distils Its misered bounty.—Hark! No whisper mars
The utter silence of the untranslated stars.
E.E. CUMMINGS, SUMMER SILENCE, 1913
Follow The Trustees on these social media platforms:
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/thetrustees
INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK, X: @thetrustees
PINTEREST: pinterest.com/thetrustees
LINKEDIN: The Trustees of Reservations
#thetrustees | The photos in this gallery were sourced from Trustees followers on Instagram and Facebook, including the Trustees Hikers group on Facebook. Thank you for sharing your images with us! Clockwise from upper left, the reservations and photographers are: Rock House Reservation (West Brookfield), George Stephans; Chapel Brook (Ashfield), Jim Medeiros; Peaked Mountain (Monson), Lee Ann Gale; Bear Swamp (Ashfield), Shawn Adams; Appleton Farms (Hamilton & Ipswich), Scott Hufford; Swift River Reservation (Petersham), Shawn Adams; Gerry Island (Marblehead), @kathrynwiest; Farandnear (Shirley), Rebecca Owens; Ward Reservation (Andover & North Andover), Mary O'Brien; World's End (Hingham), Brad Smith; Monument Mountain (Great Barrington), Kris Carrigan; Long Hill (Beverly), Christina Zarobe; Jewell Hill (Ashburnham), Jason Hendershaw.
STATEWIDE MAP
Trustees Public Gardens
Explore these twelve inspiring places as they grow and change throughout the seasons and the years. Many Trustees gardens have undergone significant rejuvenations in recent years, thanks to the generosity of Members and supporters. Ranging in size from one to 165 acres, our gardens provide opportunities for quiet reflection, artistic inspiration, and the joy of discovering horticultural treasures.
Naumkeag STOCKBRIDGE
This National Historic Landmark began as a family summer cottage, lived in for two generations by the Choate family. Starting in 1926, Mabel Choate and renowned landscape architect Fletcher Steele created Naumkeag’s striking Modern garden rooms. These include the famous Blue Steps, the whimsical Afternoon Garden, the walled Chinese Garden, the Peony Terraces, and Rose Garden.
Farandnear SHIRLEY
Located on the site of the former summer home of accomplished political scientist and professor Arthur Banks and his family, this reservation features open fields, a pinetum with more than 80 specimen conifer trees, perennial gardens, a cranberry bog, 2.7 miles of wooded trails, and fields of wildflowers.
The Mission House STOCKBRIDGE
The garden at The Mission House, a National Historic Landmark, is one of only three surviving Fletcher Steele-designed masterworks open to the public (Naumkeag being another). The gardens reflect Steele’s interpretation of Stockbridge’s 18th-century garden history overlaid with interpretive spaces for Stockbridge-Munsee traditional plantings.
Ashintully Gardens TYRINGHAM
This symphonic landscape was created over thirty years by composer John McLennan, Jr. The gardens blend several natural features—a rushing stream, native deciduous trees, drumlins, and mountain meadows—with a designed landscape arranged in a series of sweeping lines and interlocking spaces.
wooded hills, meadows, and ponds under the dappled shade of century-old arboretum trees. The footprint of the greenhouse complex can be found behind an historic carriage house. A succession of unusual trees have been added for the enjoyment of future generations.
Allen C. Haskell Public Gardens NEW BEDFORD
In the heart of New Bedford, these six acres include beautifully landscaped gardens, historic buildings, and greenhouses which were once visited by the likes of Martha Stewart and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
PHOTO CREDITS: NAUMKEAG: GROSS & DALEY
Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens
NORTH ANDOVER
A newly expanded array of bountiful gardens and native plantings complements this former farm turned early-20th-century estate by Helen Stevens and her husband John Gardner Coolidge, and preservation architect Joseph Everett Chandler. The property includes a walled rose garden, greenhouse, serpentine brick wall, and potager, along with accessible pathways to enhance your visit.
Castle Hill on the Crane Estate IPSWICH
Modeled after the gardens of Renaissance Europe and offering magnificent ocean views, this 2,100-acre National Historic Landmark displays the creative genius of five nationally recognized landscape architects and two architects set amidst some of the best coastal views in Massachusetts.
Long Hill BEVERLY
The Trustees’ most horticulturally diverse property, this 114-acre hillside features five acres of sweet aromas, vivid colors, and botanical diversity laid out in a series of separate garden rooms. A new Horticultural Learning Campus was completed in 2023, featuring a greenhouse and workspace, outdoor gathering areas, and classroom and lecture space in the property’s refurbished farmhouse.
Mytoi
MARTHA’S VINEYARD
This Japanese-inspired stroll garden on bucolic Chappaquiddick Island offers serenity and a place of contemplation. Paths wind through Japanese maples, pines, and flowering shrubs, highlighting views within the garden.
For a detailed look at each of The Trustees’ gardens and the reservations that house them, visit
BY MEAGHAN FLAHERTY LAWTON, TRUSTEES STAFF
Creative Adventures
In 2020 the coronavirus changed the way we work and live. A Member since 2018, Jean Veigas decided to set out and explore Trustees reservations to “keep from going stir-crazy.” Not only did Jean pick a new property to explore weekly, she also documented her adventures with watercolors and journal entries. “The Trustees saved me during the pandemic!”
In her late 70s at the time, Jean set a goal to visit one property a week with her sketchbook to document the sites. Some of her favorites include Appleton Farms in Hamilton & Ipswich, Moose Hill Farm in Sharon, Rocky Woods in Medfield, and Powisset Farm and Noanet Woodlands
Jean Veigas shares her passion for the outdoors through painting and writing
in Dover. “It was an ambitious project,” notes Jean. “I made it to 45 properties.”
At each reservation, Jean wrote a short paragraph about the history of the property, which trail she took, or a special feature and sent it along to family and friends. She shares that it was “a discipline for her,” adding, “I had to get out there in the snow or ice or rain and walk and sketch to meet my deadline!”
When pandemic restrictions eased up, Jean started weekly walks with seniors, called “Wednesday Walks with Jean,” which often visit Trustees properties. When I sat down with Jean this spring, she was planning a walk and potluck lunch at Powisset Farm.
For those new to the organization, she recommends World’s End in Hingham to the first-time visitor.
Jean’s creative accounts of her adventures would go by weekly email to family members, hiking friends, YMCA buddies, church friends, college roommates, and more. The thought of just how many new people she introduced to the Trustees mission through her creativity and commitment makes us all smile.
If you’d like to suggest someone to be highlighted in a future issue of Special Places, please send an email to marketing@thetrustees.org. And if you know someone who’d like to become a Member, ask them to visit thetrustees.org/join.
A green gift of Trustees
Membership is perfect for any occasion: graduations, weddings, family reunions, co-worker appreciations, holidays, and many more!
The Trustees is Massachusetts’ largest, and the nation’s first, conservation and preservation nonprofit. We are supported by members, friends, and donors. Explore more than 120 amazing places across Massachusetts, from beaches, farms and woodlands, to historic homes, museums, urban gardens, and more.
Katie Theoharides President & CEO
Jenna Gomes Interim Head of Development
Nathan Hutto Chief People & Culture Officer
Christine Morin Chief Operating Officer
Gerben Scherpbier Chief of Staff & Senior Advisor to the President & CEO
Brian Therrien Chief Financial Officer
Janelle Woods-McNish Chief Marketing & Diversity Officer
EDITORIAL
Wayne Wilkins Director, Brand & Content Editor
Sarah Cassell Managing Director Marketing & Communications
Chris Costello Senior Graphic Designer
Gina Janovitz Graphic Designer
We invite your input, letters, and suggestions. Please send them to:
Special Places | The Trustees 200 High Street, 4th Floor Boston, MA 02110 tel 978.921.1944 email marketing@thetrustees.org
For information about becoming a Member please contact us at 978.921.1944, email us at membership@thetrustees.org, or visit our website at thetrustees.org.
If you need to find your Member code, account information, or look up ticket and registration status for specific programs, visit thetrustees.org/customerservice
Special Places, Summer 2024. Volume 32, Issue Number 2. Special Places (ISSN 1087-5026) is published quarterly and distributed to members and donors of The Trustees of Reservations. Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Photographers may retain copyrights.
Printed in the USA by Cummings Printing, which recycles material used in manufacturing, adheres to strict environmental standards, and uses soy and vegetable based inks.
PHOTO: NAUMKEAG, STOCKBRIDGE; BY DAVID EDGECOMB
PHOTO BY DAVID EDGECOMB