FOR MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS OF THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS | WINTER 2007 VOLUME 15 NO. 4 |

Seeing 'New Englandly'

the trustees > of reservations home. It s about preserving the very real We are more than 100,000 people like you

from every corner fabric that stretches from our past into our of Massachusetts. We love the outdoors. We love the distinctive charms future: the natural systems, the contours of New England. And we believe in celebrating of the land, the places where history and and protecting them - for ourselves, for our

heritage mingle. Our recently released children, and for generations to come. With

nearly one hundred special places across annual report details the first year of this the state, we invite you to find your place. effort and the variety of ways that we are

recruiting many more people to the cause, Andy Kendall Jocelyn Forbush caring for and sharing the places we own and President Pioneer Valley Regional Director manage, and being bolder in approaching Kathy Abbott Vice President Chris Kennedy the future. The big idea is that we are all Field Operations Islands Regional Director in it together. Melanie Ingalls Vice President Steve McMahon This issue revisits the origins of our Education & Outreach Berkshires Regional Director conservation consciousness that began with Richard Ryan Vice President Wayne Mitton Emerson and Thoreau and lives on in the Finance & Northeast Administration, CFO Regional Director starkly beautiful words and images of con- Kate Saunders Dick O'Brien temporary New England writers and artists. Vice President Centra/ Advancement Regional Director Literary We hope it is an inspiration to get out Wes Ward Steve Sloan and explore with your family and friends. Vice President Southeast Land Conservation Regional Director Because it is our delightful responsibility Landscapes Valerie Burns to help our children, our grandchildren, President, Boston Michael O'Connor Natural Areas Network and their grandchildren see New Englandly Vice President Laurie O'Reilly The Trustees of Communications What is it to see deeply, to see "New so that they, too, will speak up for the places Reservations Director Englandly," as Emily Dickinson so that cannot speak for themselves. perceptively put it? Nicole Polillio

In this issue of Special Places, Pulitzer Kate Wollensak Creative Director Prize-finalist Megan Marshall discovers that it's not simply about imagining Andy Kendall We invite your articles, photographs, letters, Hawthorne's Puritans or Thoreau's Walden PRESIDENT and suggestions. Please send them to:

Pond. Rather, it is about profoundly under- Special Places

Moose Hill Farm standing a place inside and out - its shape, 396 Moose Hill Street its creatures, its signs - and knowing that Sharon. MA 02067 it is your own. The skill of seeing deeply, tel 781.784.0567 earned through countless adventures and fax 781.784.4796

email [email protected] explorations, is what connects us to the land and urges us to defend its future. For information about becoming a member

Today, as much as ever, we need to please contact us at 978.921.1944 xl858, email

us at [email protected], or visit our website see New Englandly, need to hold onto at www.thetrustees.org. the land and the distinct character of our communities that make it worth living here. Special Places, Winter 2007. Volume 15. Issue

Number 4. Special Places (ISSN 1 087-5026) As you know, The Trustees have launched

is published quarterly and distributed to Report is available a new strategic plan, a concentrated effort The 2007 Annual now members and donors of The Trustees of online at www.thetrustees.org to be even effective at do: more what we Reservations. Copyright © 2007. All rights

protecting the special places that make reserved. Printed on recycled paper ON THE COVER: The William Cullen Bryant Massachusetts the place we want to call Homestead, Cummington. © bill warren

Please recycle this magazine by passing it 0$

to a friend or donating it to a school, library,

business, or wherever it might be rW^H 4

SPECIAL PLACI

WINTER 2007 VOL. 15 NO.

0 Am COVER STORY Seeing 'New Englandly'

Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-finalist for The Peabody

Sisters, recalls how 19th-century Massachusetts writers

introduced her to New England - and to the fundamental

link between people and land.

SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN Books for Snowy Nights

Let tonight's bedtime story become tomorrow's adventure

with these choice children's books. Then check out the

accompanying guide to Trustees properties perfect for winter explorations with youngsters.

12 HEEDING THE CALL Contemporary Voices

From rugged uplands to wild coastscapes, our region

continues to prove fertile ground for the literary seeds sewn

by Thoreau. Who are his successors in word and image?

PEOPLE AND PLACE 'A Happy Place'

When he was relaxing at Long Hill, family came first

for legendary Atlantic Monthly editor/publisher Ellery

Sedgwick - even when Robert Frost was cooling his

heels in the library.

18 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

24 FIND YOUR PLACE

Tantiusques, Sturbridge COVER STORY

Seein

CALIFORNIA, A I GREW UP IN SOUTHERN

landscape and culture about as distant from New

England's as any you can find in the continental

college, I'd United States. Until I came east for

never seen snow fall or a maple leaf turn red. Yet

the house my family lived in had been designed,

sometime in the 1920s, by two spinster sisters

from New England. They'd moved to Pasadena

believing the warm dry air would improve their

health, and built a house that I always imagined

mimicked their own back east: center-entrance

colonial, white clapboards, green shutters, oak

tree out front.

The Old Manse, Concord

The Robin s my Criterion for Tune

Because I grow - where Robins do -

But, were I Cuckoo born - I'd swear by him - The ode familiar - rules the Noon -

The Buttercup's, my Whim for Bloom Because, we're Orchard sprung -

But, were I Britain born, I'd Daisies spurn

None but the Nut - October fit -

Because, through dropping it,

The Seasons flit - I'm taught - Without the Snow's Tableau

Winter, were lie - to me -

Because I see - New Englandly -

The Queen, discerns like me -

Provincially -

- EMILY DICKINSON COVER STORY

The Pasadena tree, broad and towering

when I knew it, bore die small, spiny leaves of a California live oak, and they never fell to the ground in a carpet of orange and yellow. Otherwise, the

McLellan sisters must have felt very much at home when they moved into their new house as aging invalids.

When the sisters died in the 1950s, they had no heirs, and my parents - moving up from a one-story tract home

- bought the house fully furnished.

Suddenly my little sister and I had ntain, Great Barrington twin maple four-posters and, better still, several shelves of children's books published in Boston in the 1880s. I grew up reading the McLellan sisters' Thoreau's fancy along with his "brute traffic lights, mini-skirted pedestrians, editions of Little Women, The Five Little neighbors," the woodchuck, the loon, and honking taxicabs from my field of

Peppers, and What Katy Did. Hard the mud turtle; and Dickinson's iris, vision and replace them with the image snowy winters, rivers that froze solid aster, and anemone, bartsia, crocus, of Louisa May Alcott striding across for skating, and the tree-lined country and rhodora, "so thick upon the plain" the Common in long skirts and scuffed lanes of Concord, Massachusetts in her beloved Pioneer Valley. On a boots to deliver a manuscript at the

(where two of the three authors lived summer visit to Boston for college Old Corner Bookstore at School and when they wrote their books), became interviews, I insisted on a side trip to Washington Streets. as vivid to me as Nancy Drew's River Concord to see Walden Pond. Like Or when, climbing Monument

Heights was to most girls my age. many pilgrims before and since, I felt Mountain in the Berkshires, I visualized

I was lucky, because Concord - and the uncanny draw of Henry David a "champagne-brightened" Herman

Massachusetts - turned out to be a real Thoreau's cabin site and made my way Melville showing off for his new friend place, populated in the 19th century there without needing to follow any Nathaniel Hawthorne at their famous with a score of gifted authors who fixed signs. I had never been to Walden picnic of August 1850 by clambering that landscape indelibly in words for before, and yet I had. up "a peaked rock which ran out like a future readers. When I entered high In one of Emily Dickinson's poems bowsprit" and hauling imaginary ropes. school, I could read the works of that I read as a high school student, Or when I was married on the lawn

Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau, and she writes, "I see - New Englandly." at Long Hill in Beverly and couldn't

Dickinson, which seemed distant at When I arrived in the Boston area help but think that the summer retreat times to some of my classmates but for college, then settled here to raise of Ellery Sedgwick, famed editor and never to me, and fill out the New a family, and later worked for two publisher of the Atlantic Monthly, must

England of my imagination with a decades on a biography of three New have seen many far more significant wealth of historical, topographical, England sisters who were part of the gatherings than mine. Because and horticultural detail. I came to know Concord circle, I often recalled that Massachusetts existed first in my the troubled Puritans and persecuted phrase. I believed I was seeing New imagination, it was easy to go back

Quakers of Hawthorne's tales; the Englandly when I walked the streets there, with so many landmarks and sandy-bottomed ponds that captured of Boston and managed to subtract touchstones still in place.

SpecialPLACES I WINTER 2007 COVER STORY

But when I read Dickinson's poem again recently, I realized, of course, that what she meant by "seeing New

Englandly" was something quite

different from the mental time-travel I so often enjoyed. Her poem celebrated what was, for her, the here and now: the local, the provincial, the way a person, writer or not, is stamped with the sensory experiences of childhood.

We should all proudly sing the "ode

familiar," Dickinson tells us.

Dickinson and the writers of her

day were insisting on the validity of their New England experience in the

face of a monolithic British culture -

at a time when such insistence was (Dickinson's) poem celebrated... the way a radical and new. As Elizabeth Peabody,

the oldest of the three sisters I wrote person, writer or not, is stamped with the about, phrased it, a "more interior rev-

olution" was taking place in American

culture that would "give life" and sensory experiences meaning to the political freedom gained in the American Revolution. Mid- of childhood. century New England was, Peabody

wrote, a volatile time and place, in

which "everything in the forms of Much of what they had to say derived friend Thoreau. In Dickinson's poem,

society & almost in the forms of from a deeply felt connection with it was nature that told her she was an

thought is in a state of flux." Writers nature, embedded in the new spiritual American, "Because I grow - where

and artists "unfettered" by the "weight philosophy of Transcendentalism, which Robins do." The painfully shy poet

of custom" were poised to create a new held that God was bodied forth in, and issued the boldest claim of all: seeing

and distinctively American aesthetic. maybe even the same thing as, nature. "New Englandly" made her the equal

Hawthorne wrote about New "We need the tonic of wildness," of the Queen of England, who,

England Puritans and Quakers to show Thoreau wrote near the end of Walden. Dickinson argued, can't help but

that America had a past as rich as the Emerson's first published book was see "Provincially" too.

history that made Sir Walter Scott's called Nature; much of it written while "We can never have enough of

novels so popular. Dickinson, Thoreau, living in Concord at the Old Manse, nature," Thoreau declared. And yet,

and Ralph Waldo Emerson weren't the family homestead later rented to of the writers of his generation, he was

competing with anybody; they were the newlyweds Nathaniel Hawthorne the one who foresaw our abuse of the

American originals, ready to stand and Sophia Peabody, who searched its wild and spoke up first for preservation.

squarely on the ground of New England grounds for arrowheads and paddled "Thank God men cannot fly, and lay

and proclaim its merits prima facie. on the Concord River with their new waste the sky as well as the earth,"

THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS I www.thetrustees.org he wrote in a late journal entry. I or

Thoreau, "the West" was "but another name for the Wild." Yet by the 1920s, > New Englanders were building white clapboard houses there among the 2r adobes and shingled bungalows and moving in for an uneventful retirement.

By the 1960s, much of my southern 2» California was an endless sprawl of v tract houses, outdoor swimming pools, freeways, and parking lots. It took an immersion in the literature of New

England, and a journey east, for me to find "nature" - the nature I had been seeing "New Englandly" all through my California girlhood, so lovingly preserved in Massachusetts by the grateful inheritors of its rich literary tradition.

Megan Marshall's biography The Peabody

Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited

American Romanticism was awarded the

Francis Parbnan Prize by the Society of

American Historians, the Mark Lynton

History Prize, and the Massachusetts Book

Award in nonfiction, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in biography and memoir.

TV Appleton Farms, Hamilton" & Ipswich

Today, the places worth saving are going fast -

and the forces undermining them are moving faster.

Give to the Landscapes & Landmarks Fund The planet starts here! and take back the future of our communities. ANNUAL APPEAL 2007

Donate online at www.thetrustees.org/ annualappeal or check

our mail for the Annual Appeal packet recently sent to you.

ANDSCAPES & LANDMARKS FUND

Every gift matters! Thank you for making a difference. 4

The right books can light up the imagination

and propel youngsters (and parents!) into

wintry woods, across snow-mantled meadows,

and beneath night skies filled with moonglow.

And who better to chart a path than a children's

librarian who loves the outdoors?

I By April Mazza

8 THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS www.thetrustees.org Every Autumn Comes the Bear, by Jim Arnosky Who's Been Here? series, by Lindsay Barrett George

Vermont author Arnosky introduces a bear that visits a farm every These books for younger children feature a brother and sister autumn before finding a hilltop den. Through the bear's search, exploring nature. On one page the children find evidence of an kids learn about the seasons, hibernation, and animal behavior. animal and ask, "Who's been here?" On turning the page they

find the answer. Out of the Ocean, by Debra Frasier

Stone Wall Secrets, by Kristine and Robert Thorson A young girl and her mother walk the beach and discover treasures cast up by the sea. Marvelous paper collage and photos illustrate Older children will enjoy this Connecticut couple's tale of a the story. boy and his grandfather ambling about the family farm and

examining the stone walls that reveal its history. Henry Hikes to Fitchburg, by D.B.Johnson

Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen Young Henry David Thoreau - depicted as a bear in this New

Hampshire writer's fable - walks through woods and fields, In this Caldecott Medal winner, Pioneer Valley writer Yolen from Concord to Fitchburg, stopping to ponder nature and combines poetic text and delicate watercolors to tell of a father eat wild raspberries. and daughter's trek into the moon-bright woods to seek the

Great Horned Owl. On a Starry Night, by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock

A girl and her mother climb the hill above their farm, watching Looking for ideas for your own activities? Consider these and listening to the natural world around them, in Kinsey- books: Kids Camp! Activities for the Backyard or Wilderness, Warnock's book inspired by her Vermont home. by Laurie Carlson and Judith Dammel; The Kids Summer

Walden, passages selected by Steve Lowe Handbook, by Jan Drake and Ann Love; Winter Book, by

These selections from Thoreau's famous work are intended Harriet Webster; and Night Science for Kids: Exploring the for older children with an emphasis on natural history and World After Dark, by Terry Krautwurst. our connections to land.

April Mazza is head of youth services at the Wayland Public Library Stranger in the Woods, by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick in Wayland, MA, and chair of the New England Roundtable of Teen Animals emerge to wonder at (and nibble on) a strange visitor & Children's Librarians. She loves paddling, campitig, and anything to their winter forest world - a snowman built by two children. to do with the ocean.

The photograph of a deer munching the carrot nose is a wonder.

Morning, Noon, and Night, by Jean Craighead George

Many of the author's more than 100 books portray children who help preserve the environment and protect living creatures.

SpecialPLACES I WINTER 2007 With these stories to inspire you and your kids,

it's time to head out for some good outdoor fun.

Check out these properties for

exciting winter explorations or

choose from 89 others on our

website, www.thetrustees.org.

WHO MADE THOSE TRACKS?

Whitney and Thayer Woods

Route 3A, Cohasset; Turkey Hill Road, Hingham 781.740.7233 |

At more than 800 acres, this expansive mix of woodlands and wetlands is laced

with carriage roads and footpaths - which are traveled by animals and people alike.

Deer, coyote, field mice, and wild turkey are among the residents whose activities

are clearly recorded on the snow-covered trails.

Appleton Farms Grass Rides Highland Street, Hamilton 978.356.5728 | |

With five miles of carriage roads crossing woods, fields, and wetlands, the Grass

Rides offer plenty of places to search for animals, their tracks, the nuts and plants

they've nibbled, and other signs of wild activity.

SLEDDING

Dexter Drumlin George Hill Road, Lancaster 978.840.4446 | |

This hillside meadow is a place of quiet repose and scenic views through most of

the year. However, come winter - and snow - the reservation is transformed into

a sledder's paradise. Especially on weekends, Dexter Drumlin is one of the most

popular family winter destinations in central Massachusetts.

Cedariver Forest Road, Millis 781.784.0567 | |

Unveiled to the public in October, this 55-acre former farm on the Charles River

includes plenty of flat pastureland and woods. But the property also boasts an

open hillside which, once the snow flies, will be just begging for sleds, coasters, and toboggans.

THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS I www.thetrustees.org V

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING/ slopes of 466-foot Moose Hill. (The fields are also perfect for SNOWSHOEING making snow angels.)

Notchview Route 9, Windsor 413.684.0148 North Common Meadow/ Brooks Woodland Preserve | | East Street and Quaker Drive, Petersham 978.248.9455 Recognized as one of the finest cross-country centers in the state, | the 3,100-acre reservation gets lots of snow, thanks to its 2,000- These 25-acres of open field and a small pond in the town center foot elevation in the Berkshire Hills. Whether on skis or snow- are a perfect place for families to tromp around on snowshoes. shoes, each family member will find ideal terrain, from groomed The nearby country store is a handy choice when the kids (and tracks to wide open fields, easy loops, and more invigorating you) have worked up an outdoors appetite. Explorers of Brooks ascents. And the cozy Budd Visitor Center is the perfect place Woodland Preserve can follow old cartpaths and intimate trails to start out and wind up! for miles across the 700-acre property.

Rocky Woods Hartford Street, Medfield 781.784.0567 | | EXPLORING BY MOONLIGHT

This landscape of rolling hills, forest, and marshy areas offers Exploring the woods under a full moon is unforgettable. Trustees cross-country skiing and snowshoeing for all abilities. The bridle properties where guided tours take place under moonlight magic trails and old forest roads, especially the flat routes near the this winter include the Swift River Reservation in Petersham; Weir parking lot, are ideal for young families. Hill in North Andover; Ravenswood in Gloucester; Notchview in

Windsor; and Appleton Farms in Ipswich and Hamilton. Refer Moose Hill Farm Moose Hill Street, Sharon 781.784.0567 | | to the Calendar of Events starting on PAGE 18 or visit Explore the snow-muffled woods and white-blanketed fields www.thetrustees.org for more information. of one of the newest, and most engaging, Trustees reservations.

A loop trail circles much of the 347-acre property, and winter Watercolor by Ronan Moore, assistant superintendent at the visitors can enjoy fine views from the pastureland on the upper Bradley Estate in Canton. Contemporary

Who are the contemporary voices of New Return of the Osprey; A Wild, Rank Place; Sick of Nature; and

Soaring with Fidel are also insightful, especially for readers England speaking for our natural surroundings? concerned about an increasingly nature-hostile world. They may not be household names, but they New Hampshire resident Sy Montgomery, a regular on

possess a keen wit, a sharp eye, and a sensitivity NPR's Living Earth, is the longtime columnist for the Boston to the undercurrents of our environment. Globe whose pieces from her "Nature's Journal" were collected in The Wild Out Your Window in 2002. These excellent short

John Hay's work lyrically illustrates how the natural world pieces have about them a giddy sense of adventure -

can reveal something about humanity, if only we stop long Montgomery all but dares you out of your chair to follow

enough to pay attention. In books like The Great Beach, The her as she takes you through the seasons, demonstrating with

Immortal Wilderness, The Run, and others, Hay encourages precision and wit how our world is full of natural mystery.

readers to see the connections between seemingly disparate Robert Finch, author of the acclaimed Common Ground:

events, like seasonal migrations, and what they reveal about A Naturalist's Cape Cod, recently published an astonishing

humans' desire to know our way in the world. If you've never piece of naturalist memoir, The Primal Place, which takes an

experienced his work, The Way to the Salt Marsh: A John Hay in-depth look at a Cape Cod neighborhood whose relationship

Reader is the place to start. Or plunge in with The Prophet to the sea defines not only its natural setting, but the interior

of Dry Hill, a memoir by David Gessner that details his expe- landscapes of its inhabitants. Finch expertly walks the fine

rience of spending a year with Hay. Gessner's other works, line between the personal journey that lies at the heart of

TRUSTEES 2 THE OF RESERVATIONS I www.thetrustees.org 5

It's Easier Than You Think

experiences for generations to come.

Creative gift planning can help resolve

personal asset questions - whether you

are thinking about your grandchildren,

retirement, or selling a home or business

- and at the same time, support land

conservation, a favorite reservation,

or programs for children and families.

For further information about planned giving

at The Trustees of Reservations, please visit Voices By Mary Cotton www.thetrustees.org/pg.cfm Please contact me about a charitable

gift annuity and other gifts that provide

income to me or another beneficiary. every memoir and how that journey is nuanced by the backdrop against which

I have included The Trustees in my will. it plays out.

Photography offers another kind of testament and Between Land and Sea: DATE(S) OF BIRTH:

The Great Marsh by Dorothy Kerper Monnelly is a wonderful complement to Mr. Mrs. Ms. Miss the written word. Monnelly 's black and white photos of the salt marsh stretching

along the coast of northern Massachusetts are stunning reminders of how

beautiful, artful, and mysterious our local ecosystems can be. She says in the ADDRESS

introduction, "I'm not an ecologist. Photography is my strongest voice. It's the

best way for me to advocate for this landscape." Well said. For those of us who STATE

aren't nature writers or photographers, we can still appreciate, applaud, and

be inspired by the works of those who are. DAY TELEPHONE

Mary Cotton, the owner of Newtonville Books in Newton, MA, is a contributor

to Greater Boston, the public affairs program on WGBH-Channel 2.

above: Winter images from Between Land and Sea: The Great Marsh. SEMPER VIRENS A snow squall approaches Crane Beach while an oak leaf lies frozen in a stream. SOCIETY © DOROTHY KERPER MONNELLY For more information, please contact:

Kathy Spellman, Director of Major and Planned Gifts

572 Essex Street Beverly, MA 0 1 9 1

978.840.4446 x1961 [email protected]

YOUR INQUIRY IS CONFIDENTIAL AND DOES NOT OBLIGATE YOU IN ANY WAY PEOPLE AND PLACE

£ A Happy Place'

The Long Hill guest book reveals the Sedgwick family

at rest and at play By Susan hui Doian

LONG HILL IN'BEVERLY IS RENOWNED and professional life merged, and

for its gardens and grounds - and for where landscape and literature played

the well-known and well-born figures in concert.

who visited Atlantic Monthly editor

and publisher Ellery Sedgwick and his THE FAMILIAR AND FAMOUS

family at their grand country house. The long list of writers with whom

Yet an old, seemingly nondescript Sedgwick corresponded includes Pearl

guest book may be the most charming S. Buck, E.M. Forster, Eugene O'Neil,

witness to the North Shore social and and Virginia Woolf, as well as novelist

literary salon presided over by the J.P. Marquand and historian Arnold

Sedgwicks at their Beverly estate. The Toynbee, both of whom signed the

book, which recorded the names and Long Hill guest book.

notations of Long Hill visitors from Sedgwick, the first American

1923 to 1955, is not only proof of publisher to print the works of Ernest

who visited when. Its signatures, Hemingway, loved his work as well as

poems, illustrations, and in-jokes also the writers and stories that were the

provide insight into the Sedgwick's heart and soul of it. Describing his role

rich social and literary life, as well as as editor he writes, "The clergymen

into this special place where family indeed know men's souls better... but

14 THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS I www.thetrustees.org PEOPLE AND PLACE

r i 3.3

> •^V~^- Uft~«-e <=^-y-c p rfCt-v~<; P/\.\^*L*JJ l^JLtv (k\*H-

J

above: The Long Hil! guest book's first page notes the year it was begun and features a handwritten ode - inserted years later, probably by Sedgwick's second wife Marjorie - to the property's elegant grounds and gardens.

SpeaalPLACES I WINTER 2007 PEOPLE AND PLACE

the roads men travel on earth and the Long Hill, where guests poured in, sloping terrain. The elegant hilltop

kinds of men who travel them are best children were welcome, and literature, home, built five years later, played host

known to the editor." art, and nature provided the backdrop. to many family members and literary

In his memoirs, The Happy Sedgwick, who purchased the colleagues over the years. In 1923, just

Profession, Sedgwick reflects on his Atlantic Monthly in 1908, was living a couple of years after the completion

long career: "Mine has been an old- with his wife, Mabel Cabot Sedgwick, of the house, the guest book in our

fashioned ambition. For me the good and their four children on Boston's archives records its first visitors.

life has been the contented life and, Beacon Hill when in 1916 he purchased

were I to live mine over again, I should 1 14 acres in Beverly. The former PERENNIAL JOYS

aim at the same goal." Such it would agricultural property would be aptly Life at Long Hill must have been joyful,

seem for life at the family's estate at named Long Hill in honor of its gently intellectual, and entertaining. The

family and their visitors enjoyed the

outdoors - both the farm and the

elegant gardens - as well as relaxing

with a book, taking tea on the lawn,

and engaging in lively conversation.

Recollections by family members

reflect such idyllic scenes, whether they

took place indoors, along the network

of cartways and footpaths, or within

left to right: The Long Hill guest book bears

witness to visitors from London to Chicago, Boston to Brookline; the facade of the main house, built

in 1921; a glimpse of Long Hill's exquisite gardens rfJ& in full bloom; Ellery and Mabel Sedgwick pause in the gardens on their way out for a ride.

\ 1 1 L ' H 1 ' T> is

^3- i

CUV— PEOPLE AND PLACE

the exquisite gardens. These elegantly the house and filled it with their own Granddaughter Irene Briedis, a

designed outdoor "rooms," for whieh friends. The family read a great deal member of the Long Hill garden

the property remains justly renowned, and played games and rode in the many committee, recalls childhood picnics

must be credited to the two Mrs. neighborhood trails. The farm was active at a nearby beach and having tea in

Sedgwicks. Mabel Sedgwick, the author with animals about the barn and sta- the library and on the back porch

of The Garden Month by Month, plant- ble... . It was a happy place for children." overlooking the gardens. She also ed and designed the original Long Hill shares her father's recollection of gardens. Marjorie Russell, a longtime LIVING MEMORIES the time when Robert Frost waited

family friend who married Sedgwick in Although very young at the time, in the library for her grandfather.

1939 after Mabels death, was also an grandson and namesake Ellery Sedgwick The Long Hill guest book not only accomplished gardener, as well as a III can still recall his grandfather being shares the names of those who visited,

propagator of rare plants. She added "animated when he talked or read but the occasional drawing and personal an array of trees and shrubs not seen Gulliver's Travels to the children seated notation. For example, Francis Minturn previously in New England. on the floor around his feet." He also Sedgwick's sketch of a cowboy on a

Yet all these lovely environments recalls his fascination with the two bucking bronco, dated June 1926, reads, would have been less so without the cramped attic rooms in which he and "Ell' - Ride em' cowboy!" A 1929 entry presence of the extended Sedgwick his siblings slept, formerly belonging reads, "June 24th the wedding day of family and their guests. Marjorie wrote to his father, Ellery, Jr., and his Uncle Ellery/ The laurel, cedar and box this endearing account of summers at Cabot, who were once referred to as together make the Hill glorious."

Long Hill: "Four children grew up in "Little El and Little Hell." As Sedgwick said, "the good life has

been the contented life." Today, Long

Hill - its glorious gardens, woodland

paths, and elegant, book-filled home -

Continues to provide a peaceful and

inspiring place for visitors, literary

and otherwise.

Susan Hill Dolan is Historic Resources Manager

for The Trustees' Northeast Region. BERKSHIRES REGION ON educational journey through forest and field with some experienced outdoor educators.

Parents are welcome to tag along - otter slid- Wednesday, February 20 6 - 8pm Saturdays, December - March I I am | -4pm - ing is not just for kids! Ages 6 I I . Members: Hot Chocolate Saturdays Full Moon Hike $24. Nonmembers: $30. Please pre-register. BARTHOLOMEW'S COBBLE. ASHLEY FALLS

Saturday, March I | 9:30am- I2noon Climb Hurlburt's Hill, then slip, slide, sled, ski, There's no time like the winter to experience Wild Mysteries or trek back to the warmth of our Visitor's the magic of our lunar neighbor. Hot cocoa BROOKS WOODLAND PRESERVE, QUAKER Center and enjoy complimentary coffee, tea, provided. Call ahead for weather information. DRIVE ENTRANCE. PETERSHAM 978.248.9455 and hot chocolate. Members: FREE. FREE. Please pre-register. Together, we'll search for the tracks and signs Nonmembers: FREE with admission. - of our wild friends. Your view of the forest will Friday, February 22 I 0am 2pm | be forever changed after learning some of the Saturday, February 9 3 - 5pm Children's Winter Adventure | basics of animal tracking. Recommended ages Snow and Hot Cocoa PEAKED MOUNTAIN. MILLER'S FOREST TRACT, for

1 2 and older. Members: $ 1 5. Nonmembers: $20. FIELD FARM. WILLI AMSTOWN 413.458.3144 MONSON 978.248.9455 Please pre-register. Explore the of winter this kid-sized Bring your snowshoes or cross-country skis wonders on

to enjoy the trails and fields at this ideal family

event.Then warm up by the fire in the Guest

House at Field Farm, drink hot cocoa, and

admire the view of Mt. Greylock. FREE.

Saturday, March I I - 3pm | Snowshoe to Vermont MOUNTAIN MEADOW. POWNAL.VT 413.458 3144

Put on your XC skis or snowshoes and slip over the Vermont border to Upper Mountain

Meadow Preserve. You'll discover lovely trails

and stunning views. FREE.

CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS

Throughout The Winter Walk the Talk MARTHA'S VINEYARD 508.693.7662

The Trustees save the irreplaceable, for February 2 & 3 everyone, forever. Join us as we visit rarely seen

private properties where preservation-minded Winter Camping atTully owners have used conservation restrictions TULLY LAKE CAMPGROUND, ROYALSTON 978.248.9455

to protect special landscapes. Space is limited. Always wanted to know what your favorite campsite looks like in winter? Bring your

Members: FREE. Nonmembers: $ 1 5. Visit our warmest sleeping bag and be prepared for New England camping at its finest. Join us website at www.thetrustees.org or call for for winter survival and tracking activities both days and have a Tully experience you locations, dates, and times. Please pre-register. won't forget! Recommended for ages 12 and older. Members: $60. Nonmembers: $75.

Reservations and pre-payment required. 18 THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS enjoy dog sledding this winter! This family- in the dirt and grow things. This full-day event as well friendly event is a perfect way to get to know includes workshops and presentations,

Huskies and Malamutes, learn how to harness as community gardening awards honoring

them, shout sled commands, and even go on individual gardens and gardeners for their

a short ride. Hosted by Boston Natural Areas commitment and success. FREE. Visit

Network, this event annually attracts hundreds www.bostonnatural.org for more information.

of people, whether they choose to "mush" or not. FREE. Visit www.bostonnatural.org for NORTHEAST REGION more information. Please pre-register.

Friday, 21 - 5pm December | 3:30 Saturday, February 9 I0am-I2noon; | The Farm Nisse of Appleton Farms - I 3pm APPLETON FARMS, IPSWICH/HAMILTON Snowshoe Clinic 978.921.1944 X88I5

FRANCIS WILLIAM BIRD PARK, WALPOLE Appleton Farms has its own "Nisse" - an

508.668.6136 elf-like creature who lives in our barns and

Come float on the snow! You'll learn a little protects our farmers, animals, and crops.

about the history of snowshoes before Each year before the holidays, the Farm Nisse river strapping on a pair and walking over the appears to look for his holiday porridge. Join

and through the woods with ease. Snowshoes us as we thank the Nisse for bringing luck to

are provided through a partnership with Eastern the farm, offer him porridge, and listen to his

Mountain Sports. FREE. Please pre-register. tales of mischief. While we wait, we'll enjoy

holiday crafts, caroling, and socializing. FREE.

Saturday, February 9 10- I 1:30am Member event Friends welcome. Please pre-register. | The Path Less Traveled

NOANET WOODLANDS, DOVER 508.785.0339 Sundays, January 6, February 3, March 2

Join us for a ranger-led hike on lesser known I - 3pm

trails. Explore the wonders of nature in the Winter Wildlife Walks

cold of winter and see if you can stump the CASTLE HILL, IPSWICH 978.921.1944 X88IS

ranger with questions as you learn more about Beyond the beach, a variety of habitats

this special place. Bring your snowshoes if makes the Crane Estate an ecological treasure

there's snow! Hot beverages will follow. Space and the perfect place for winter strolls.

is limited. Members: FREE. Nonmembers: Adult $4; Recommended for ages 1 2 and older.

Child $2. Please pre-register. Members: $4. Nonmembers: $5. Please pre-register.

I - Sunday, March | 9am- I2noon Thursday, January 17 5:30 7pm | Cabin Fever Hike Owl Moon ROCKY WOODS. MEDFIELD 508.785.0339 APPLETON FARMS, IPSWICH/HAMILTON

Get out of the house and onto the trail with 978.921.1944 X88I5

family, friends, and neighbors. Reacquaint your- Discover things that go "who, who, whooooo"

self with a familiar trail or explore a new one. under the light of the moon. We'll read aloud

Saturday, March 15 I Oam Yolen's award-winning book Owl Moon as | -2pm Several trail loops will be recommended. Hot Jane

Volunteer Hot Dog Roast beverages will be available. Members: FREE. we prepare to go calling for great horned owls.

TULLY LAKE CAMPGROUND. Nonmembers: Adult $3; Child (12 and under) FREE. Learn about owls' special features - from silent

ROYALSTON 978.248.945S flight to feathered feet. End the evening with

Bring your work gloves because we'll be building March, DATE AND TIME TBA a warm cup of cocoa in the Carriage Barn. fires first! Come help us burn brush out at the Gardeners Gathering (BNAN) Members: $4. Nonmembers: $5. Please pre-register. campground; we'll provide the hot dogs. FREE.

617.542.7696 Saturday, 19 8 - 9:30pm January | GREATER BOSTON The state's largest gardening event is hosted Weir Hill Moonlight Hike by Boston Natural Areas Network each WEIR HILL. NORTH ANDOVER Including Boston Natural March, attracting hundreds of community and 978.921.1944 X88I5

Areas Network (BNAN) backyard gardeners in search of tips, advice, Awaken your senses and experience nature

and camaraderie. Most of all, the Gardeners under the stars with this family-friendly January, DATE AND time tba Gathering is a place to tap into a large and moonlight hike (on snowshoes, conditions

Mush the Greenways (BNAN) vibrant network of people who like to dig permitting). Members: FREE. Nonmembers: $5.

POPE PAUL II PARK, JOHN DORCHESTER & Ages 1 5 and younger: FREE. BELLE ISLE MARSH RESERVATION. EAST BOSTON 617.542.7696

You don't have to journey to the Arctic to Volunteers needed!

SpecialPLACES I WINTER 2007 19 Saturday, February 2 I0am-I2noon Tuesdays, February 19 & March 18 lighting, and plumbing of the house. Come see | Have You Seen the Groundhog? 3 - 4:15pm the furnace, 16 fireplaces, laundry room, cold

LONG HILL, BEVERLY 978.921,1944 X88I5 Cows in their Winter Home room, refrigerator room, steam tables, network

Is it spring yet? Make your guess, and then APPLETON FARMS, IPSWICH/HAMILTON of bathrooms, the cupola, and roof (weather we'il search our property for the groundhog 978.921.1944 X88I5 permitting). Light refreshments will be served. pastures, Appleton and other animal and plant signs that predict When snow covers our the Recommended for ages 1 0 and older. Members: farmstead. Visit the arrival of spring! Recommended for families. dairy herd loafs around the $12. Nonmembers: $ 1 5. Each tour is limited to the afternoon Members: Adult $4. Nonmembers: Adult $5: the cows up close and watch 1 0 participants. Please pre-register.

Children: FREE. Please pre-register. milking. Members: $4. Nonmembers: $5.

Please pre-register. Saturday, March 22 8-I0am |

Saturdays, February 2, 9 I 2noon - 4pm Marsh Meander | Wednesday, February 20 5:30 - 7:30pm Ward Winter Fun Day | CASTLE HILL. IPSWICH 978.921.1944 X88I5 WARD RESERVATION. ANDOVER Full Moon Foray Celebrate the vernal equinox by enjoying

978.921.1944 X88I5 RAVENSWOOD. GLOUCESTER our coastal treasure, viewing scenic salt marsh

Winter is a delightful season to experience 978.921.1944 X88I5 vistas, and exploring historic sites that reveal

Ward Reservation. Enjoy guided cross-country The moonlit woodlands in wintertime provide bygone times. Members: $4. Nonmembers: $5. skiing and snowshoeing, hot chocolate, and walkers a magical view of this special place and Please pre-register. cider on this day of winter fun! Contact us a rewarding view of the full moon. Members: about equipment rental. Weather dependent. FREE. Nonmembers: $5. Please pre-register. PIONEER VALLEY FREE (donations welcome). Friday, February 15 7 - 9pm REGION |

Saturday, February 9 9:30- Mam Seaside Stargazing | Granville: 16 7 - 9pm Wednesday, | Winter Wildlife Prowl COOLIDGE RESERVATION. MANCHESTER January (snow date: January 17) APPLETON FARMS GRASS RIDES, Worthington: Wednesday, January 23 7 - 9pm IPSWICH /HAMILTON 978.921.1944 X88I5 Do you know the difference between a star | (snow date: January 24) Explore the snowy grass rides in search of a and a planet? View Mars, Saturn, and the year's Stone Walls Cellar Holes: nesting great horned owl. Discover tracks and brightest stars, including Orion and other basic & Finding Farming's Past signs of our wild winter residents. Learn how constellations, in the clear winter night sky FREE. GRANVILLE TOWN HALL 413.268.8219 local plants and animals adapt to life in the cold. through powerful telescopes. Members: WORTHINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY Members: $4. Nonmembers: $5. Please pre-register. Nonmembers: $5. Please pre-register. 413.268.8219

- Explore the old farmsteads hidden away in Saturday, February 23 I 0am 2pm - | Saturday, February 9 I 3pm | the Highlands' forests and learn about New Hermit's Tales on the Trails Orchard Pruning Workshop » England's early farms and farmers. FREE. RAVENSWOOD, GLOUCESTER THE STEVENS-COOLIDGE PLACE, 978.921.1944 X88I5 NORTH ANDOVER 978.921.1944 X88IS Saturday, February 2 Call for time & location Join us as we begin the annual tradition of | From 1 884 to 191 7, Mason A. Walton lived as The Soulful Landscape Writing a hermit in Ravenswood. He closely observed pruning our historic orchard (with hands-on Retreat with Erica Wheeler wildlife changes and animal behaviors. Walk instruction on apple tree pruning included). 413.268.8219 eight CUMMINGTON in his footsteps to the site of his cabin and All equipment provided. Limited to people. Explore and renew your creative relationship along the way we'll share tales from his book, Members: FREE. Nonmembers: $5. to the land and learn to express it. Writers A Hermit's Wild Friends. Recommended for families. Please pre-register. of all kinds welcome. Members: $8. Members: Adult $4; Child FREE. Nonmembers:

Nonmembers: $ 1 0. Please pre-register. Sunday, February 24 I - 3pm Adult $5; Child $2. Please pre-register. | Berries, Bark, and Branching Saturday, March 8 I0am-I2noon | LONG HILL. BEVERLY 978.92 1 . 1 944 X88 I 5 Sunday, February 1 7 I - 3pm | That Log Has Potential: Knoll Stroll This winter walk through Sedgwick's Garden Growing Your Own Mushrooms PINE AND HEMLOCK KNOLL, WEN HAM of glorious woody plants introduces winter's RESERVATION, WINDSOR colors, textures, and structures and will inspire NOTCHVIEW 413.268.8219 A rare opportunity to visit old stands of you to bring your winter garden to life. Learn to grow your own shiitake mushrooms. hemlock, white pine, and black birch that Recommended for ages 1 2 and older. Members: You'll take home an inoculated log that will survived colonial settlers' axes. Recommended $4. Nonmembers: $5. Please pre-register. yield hundreds of mushrooms for years to for ages 12 and older. Members: $4. come. Members: $20. Nonmembers: $25. 1 5 I0am&2pm Nonmembers: $5. Please pre-register. Saturday, March | The Great House: Hot and Cold Please pre-register.

CASTLE HILL, IPSWICH 978.921.1944 X88I5 A two-hour, behind-the-scenes tour of the

Great House at Castle Hill, featuring attic- to-basement elements related to the heating, |U Volunteers needed!

THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS :Ski & Snowshoe at No 2007-08 WINTER RATES When the snow flies at Notchview - and it can WEEKDAYS WEEKENDS

fly heavy and deep at this nordic center high on Members* - (Individual or ;a Windsor ridgeline cross-country skiers and Family Levels)

snowshoers gambol across its 40km of terrain

Norm Day: Adult $10 like snowshoe hares. So hit the trail early, then

stop by a warming hut before returning to the

Budd Visitor Center "base camp." Sche<

For more information call 413.684.0148. Saturday, December 1 5 I - | 4pm Raise The Wreath WEIR RIVER FARM, HINGHAM 781.740.4796

After a short hike to sustainably harvest evergreens, you can help make our barn

wreath and leave with a centerpiece for

your own holiday table. Refreshments

served. Space limited. Members: $3.

Nonmembers: $5. Please pre-register.

I - - Thursday, December 3 6:30 1 | 8pm Thursday, February 2 PUTNAM | 6:30 8:30pm CONSERVATION Children's Winter Mid-Winter Hues - The Art Program Registration of Dried Floral Arranging

INSTITUTE WEIR RIVER FARM, HINGHAM 781.740.4796

Using dried flowers from the farm, floral Saturday, March 29 8am - 4:30pm | This is your first opportunity to sign up your designer Bette Kelley will lead a workshop

18th Massachusetts Land child for winter sessions of Snowflakes to help trade the winter blues for the bright Conservation Conference or Ecosplorations. For more information, colors of summer. Members: $ 10. Nonmembers:

WORCESTER TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL. please consult www.thetrustees.org. $12. Please pre-register. WORCESTER 978 840.4446 X1935;

Snowflakes - Winter Tuesday - Thursday, February 19-21 Learn the nuts and bolts of what it takes to Preschool Outings 9am - I 2noon conserve land for everyone, forever. Join novice February Vacation Program and long-time conservationists for a wide array Bundle up and come outside! With a story WEIR RIVER FARM, HINGHAM 781.740.4796 of workshops on the legal, financial, political, and a hike we will explore our properties for Vacation equals exploration! With a fresh and social realities of land conservation. This the sometimes mysterious signs of winter life. dusting of snow we can look at the land and conference sold out last year, so be sure to Please call to pre-register and for prices. who is living here in a whole new light. For register early. Co-sponsored by The Trustees ages 6-9. Members: $75. Nonmembers: $90. Wednesdays, January 9, and Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition. Please pre-register.

16, February 6 10- I I am 23, 30; | Please pre-register; $35.

- January or February (DATE TBA) 9 I I am Ecosplorations - Winter | SOUTHEAST REGION Afterschool Program Cross-Country Skiing EAST RESERVATION. WEIR RIVER FARM, HINGHAM 781.740.4796 OVER ROCHESTER 508.679.21 15 Mondays and Tuesdays I 0am | Winter doesn't have to be a break from exploring! Cross-Country Skiing Club The wide-open fields and relatively flat terrain Join us for this unique afterschool experience WORLD'S END, HINGHAM 781.740.6665 at East Over Reservation make it an ideal spot where we sharpen our observation skills in Our rangers will introduce for skiers of all ages and abilities. Come see you to a new order to uncover the history and ecology of place, new people, and a new way to enjoy another side of the reservation by exploring our properties. Members: $40. Nonmembers: $55.

the snowy season. Program is weather- the varied habitats of this inspiring landscape Please pre-register. dependent and intended for beginners. in winter. Ski rentals available. Weather

> & Tuesdays, January 8, 15,22, 29; Members: FREE. Nonmembers: FREE with 6) dependent. FREE. Please pre-register to February 5 3:30 - | 5pm admission. Please pre-register. receive a phone call confirming the date.

Wednesdays, January 9, 16, 23,

30; February 6 3:30 - 5pm |

22 THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS 5

March 6 6:30 - 8pm head south or hibernate away the winter Thursday, |

Children's Spring Program months, most stay in New England and remain Registration active all year. Rabbit, deer, fox, coyote, turkey, THE GUEST HOUSE AT HINGHAM PUBLIC LIBRARY, HINGHAM and fisher are just some of the animals whose 781.741.1405 tracks may be seen. FREE. Please pre-register. FIELD FARM

This is your first opportunity to sign your child

for Spring Outings, Ecosplorations, and - 554 Sloan Road, Williamstown up Sunday, February 3 I 3pm |

April Vacation Programs. For more information Slocum's River Long Walk tel 413.458.3135 consult our website at www.thetrustees.org. SLOCUM'S RIVER RESERVE, DARTMOUTH www.guesthouseatfieldfarm.org

508.679.2 1 1

Spring Outings Before the Super Bowl kickoff, get outside and

WORLD'S END. WEIR RIVER FARM, HINGHAM; stretch your legs on this 4.5-mile walk from NORRIS RESERVATION. NORWELL 781.740.4796 Slocum's River to the Buzzards Bay Brewery

Early spring is the perfect time to connect in Westport with Trustees superintendent with your child while they connect to these Mike Labossiere. FREE. Please pre-register. special places. Be surprised at the natural wonders waiting at a variety of our local - I Saturday, March | 9am I2noon properties. Members: $40. Nonmembers: $55. Nest Box Building Please pre-register. and Monitoring WESTPORT TOWN FARM, WESTPORT (ages 2 & 3) Tuesdays, March 1 1, 18, 25; 508.679.21 15

April 1,8 10 - I 1:30am | The open fields of the Westport Town Farm

(ages 4 & 5) Wednesdays, March 12, provide ideal nesting habitat for grassland

1 April 10 -I 1:30am birds such as eastern bluebirds. need 9, 26; 2,9 | We

volunteers to assemble and install nest boxes

Ecosplorations - Spring as well as monitor them regularly during the Afterschool Program spring and early summer. Join Shelli Perry from Winter Escapes WORLD'S END. WEIR RIVER FARM. HINGHAM; the Westport River Watershed Alliance and

TURKEY HILL, HINGHAM/COHASSET 781.740.4796 learn how you can participate in this ongoing As the buds start to reappear on the trees, project to bring back the blues. FREE. Please to Special Places it's time to get back outside to explore our pre-register. properties during this unique afterschool Members save 10% on stays of two or more experience. Members: $40. Nonmembers: $55. Saturday, March 29 7 - 8pm | nights. Proceeds benefit our conservation Please pre-register. Woodcock Wanderings work at Field Farm and the Crane Estate. SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS BIORESERVE, (AGES 5 & 6) Wednesdays, March 12, FALL RIVER 508.679.21 15

1 9, 26; April 3:30 - 5pm 2,9 | Some guys will go to great lengths to get a

(ages 7-10 Tuesdays, March 11,18, girl's attention. On this guided walk with Tom

25; April 1,8 3:30 - 5pm Athearn of Futures, we'll witness the | Green

spring dance of the American woodcock.This - Saturday, January 5 I 3pm normally reclusive bird spectacular | puts on a

Amazing Adaptations mating display combining distinct calls and

SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS BIORESERVE, precision flying - and he does it again and again

FALL RIVER 508.679.21 I 5 until he gets the girl. FREE. Please pre-register. Explore the amazing adaptations that help living things survive the coldest months of Late March or early April, (DATE TBA) the year on this guided walk. The trees of - New 9 I 0pm England's forests have developed ways to endure Salamander Soiree the winter months, while animals have their SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS BIORESERVE. own strategies for staying warm, finding food, FALL RIVER 508.679.21 15 and avoiding predators. FREE. Please pre-register. On the first warm, rainy night of the year,

spotted salamanders and wood frogs emerge

Saturday, January 19 9- wintering | Mam from their underground spots and THE INN AT CASTLE HILL

Animal Tracking make their way en masse to nearby vernal

SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS BIORESERVE, pools to mate and lay their eggs. Join us on a

FALL RIVER 508.679.21 15 spontaneous walk to catch a glimpse of these ON THE CRANE ESTATE

Join Bill Sampson, senior keeper at the secretive amphibians. FREE. Please pre-register

Buttonwood Park Zoo, to learn the art of to receive a phone call before the walk 280 Argilla Road, Ipswich tracking animals in winter. While a few animals tel 978.412.2555

www.craneestate . org

FIND YOUR PLACE World's End, Hingham OUR PLACE IN YOUR WONDERLAND

FIND YOUR PLACE

Together with our neighbors, we protect the distinct character the trustees of our communities and inspire a commitment to special places. ofreservations Our passion is to share with everyone the irreplaceable natural

and cultural treasures we care for.

NON-PROFIT ORG. Special PLACES U.S. POSTAGE PAID THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS N.READING. MA 572 Essex Street PERMIT NO. 140 Beverly, MA 01915-1530