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Stock-up for the Holidays!
Wachusett Greenways will hold a Holiday Hospitality Fair on Saturday, November 15, at Holden Senior Center from 10 AM to 2 PM. Greenways volunteers will offer tasty treats from the popular Greenways Seasonings cookbook. Here's your opportunity to try some favorite recipes.
Visitors will receive free maps of the Mass Central Rail Trail along with the Seasonings samplings. Greenways t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, handmade walking sticks, the cookbook, ornaments and more will all be available for purchase.
Visitors may also obtain gift memberships or make donations to help build or maintain the rail trail in honor or in memory of family or friends. | |
| Dear Friend,
Together we are connecting the Wachusett communities with trails and greenways. Can one person make a difference? Yes, you can! Please send a year-end gift to help build the rail trail. And please remember to keep your membership up-to-date for 2008.
Please donate now online or watch your mailbox this week for your invitation to give.
You can help Wachusett Greenways build connections like these with your contribution:
- A six-year-old rides her bike without training wheels for the first time while her beaming parents follow her on their bicycles.
- A father and his son visit the rail trail each week. The young man rides in his wheelchair.
- A couple walks the trail each morning enjoying the warmth of the rising sun and each other's company.
- Strong young men and women from high school and college sports teams run the trail.
- A woman recovering from cancer walks a little farther each day as she breathes deeply in the woodland air.
- Children run from one granite post to the next at the Springdale Mill site or stop at the train wreck marker on the trail in Rutland to learn the history of this place.
- Trail work teams, from children to seniors, help clear and maintain the trail.
- Neighbors discover the outdoors and each other at Greenways trail events.
Twice each year we ask for your help. Your annual gift to help build the Mass Central Rail Trail and your annual membership are both key to our work together.
Please invest in the Mass Central Rail Trail construction fund. Every dollar you contribute to the construction fund will be used to build more of the rail trail. Your rail trail construction gift will also help match government or foundation grants.
Look for a donation/membership envelope in postal mail soon. Please check the mailing label to see when you last sent your membership. If the label says "2008," THANK YOU. If your label does not say 2008, please also send in your membership dues today. Just $40 for a family is a wonderful value, and we need your help to sustain the Greenways mission, begun in 1995.
Alternatively, now you can easily and securely join or renew your Greenways membership or make a donation online. It's quick and easy. No stamps or checks to deal with. And you'll be helping to sustain a remarkable community resource -- the Mass Central Rail Trail. Simply click here to join or renew your membership. Click here to make a donation.
Thank you for your support! Please see our calendar of upcoming events in this update. We hope to see you out there soon and often!
Warmest regards,
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Greenways Hosts DCR Grants Announcement
Recreational Trails Grant to Support Continued Rail Trail Development
On October 29, Wachusett Greenways was honored to welcome Richard K. Sullivan Jr., commissioner of the Mass Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), at a ceremony announcing the recipients of the 2008 DCR Recreational Trails Grants Program. The DCR conducted the ceremony on the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT) at Muddy Pond in Oakham.
Greenways received a grant of $50,000 as part of the program. The funds will help Greenways build about one mile of the MCRT in Oakham, completing more than 13 miles of the planned 30-mile midsection of the 104-mile rail trail envisioned to extend from Boston to Northampton. Greenways is also a past recipient of these grants.
Colleen Abrams, president of Wachusett Greenways, said, "Greenways is honored by Commissioner Sullivan's selection of the MCRT as the site of this year's Recreational Trails Grants announcement. And we are pleased to accept a grant again this year. DCR, its Trails Program Director Paul Jahnige and new team member, Amanda Lewis, are wonderfully dedicated to building and maintaining trails in the Commonwealth. We are privileged to receive their steady support."
DCR Grant Program
Recreational Trails Grants are awarded for the construction and stewardship of hiking trails, bikeways, snowmobile trails, and other kinds of trails throughout the state. This can include improvements to long-distance trails and rail trail development, ATV trail maintenance, and creation or maintenance of municipal trails. Each recipient matches its grant with at least an additional 20% in cash or in-kind services.
In total, $600,000 in grants was awarded in 2008 to local communities and nonprofit organizations to fund 26 trails projects across the Commonwealth. Grant awards range from $2,000 to $50,000, depending on the scope of the project. Since 1993, DCR has awarded more than $3.5 million in Recreational Trails Grants in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation, and the Massachusetts Recreational Trails Advisory Board.
 DCR, state and local officials joined Wachusett Greenways volunteers for the announcement of the 2008 Recreational Trails Grants recipients. L to R: Sheila Dibb, Rutland Selectboard; Ed Yaglou, Greenways director; State Sen. Stephen Brewer; Dick Williams, Greenways volunteer; Colleen Abrams, Greenways president; State Rep. Lewis Evangelidis; DCR Commissioner Richard Sullivan Jr.; and State Rep. James O'Day.
A large group of Greenways supporters attended the DCR grants announcement on a blustery Oct. 29 on the rail trail at Muddy Pond in Oakham.
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Wachusett Greenways Events Calendar
Join us for brisk outdoor fun!
Saturday, Nov. 22 and Dec. 13, 9 AM-noon
Trail clearing to help on the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT). Check with Stan Miller (508-752-3580 or slmiller50@aol.com). Other trail dates will be added. Refreshments and tools provided.
Story Walk for December
Can you exercise and read with your family at the same time? Thanks to "Story Walk," the answer is a definite yes! Enjoy the magical children's story, The Mitten, by Jan Brett, which will posted along the MCRT in Sterling in December. The story, based on an old Ukrainian folk tale, will run from the Quag bridge north toward the Cider Mill. Parking is available at Gates Road.
Saturday, Nov. 15, 10 AM-2 PM
Greenways' Holiday Hospitality and Gift Fair
Come taste yummy treats from our Greenways Seasonings cookbook. Select gifts for friends and family, including shirts of many colors and styles, hats and walking sticks. You can also make a gift donation or update your membership. Holden Senior Center, 1130 Main Street.
Wednesday, Nov. 19
Hike Mt. Watatic with the Wednesday Wanderers. Contact Margaret Lock (978-422-9720). Bring lunch and water.
Saturday, Nov. 22. 10 AM
Mountain bike or hike future rail trail on the Cheshire Branch of the railroad from Winchendon toward Keene. Contact Ed Yaglou (978-355-2539 or egyaglou@verizon.net) to register. Bring water and bike helmet.
Friday, Nov. 28, 6-8 PM
Full-moon walk with luminaria at the MCRT in Holden. Walk 0.2 mile from the River Street entrance to the Jeremiah Kaplan Bridge (1st bridge). Warm up with hot chocolate or cider and enjoy music, then walk a bit farther if you like. Call Pat Charbonneau (508-856-0180) with questions.
Sunday, Dec. 7, 1 PM
Meet at the Echo Lake trailhead on Mountain Road in Princeton at 1:00 PM for a two-hour hike on the trails behind Wachusett Mountain. Dress for the weather and bring water and a snack. Stabilizers are recommended if there is snow or ice on the trails. Contact Dottie Kormeluk (kormeluk@comcast.net or 978-422-7716) to register.
Wednesday, Dec. 10
Hike the Barre Falls portion of the Mid-State Trail Mid-State Trail with the Wednesday Wanderers. Contact Margaret Lock (978-422-9720) for information. Bring lunch and water.
Sunday, Dec. 14
Explore Mass Audubon's Burncoat Pond Wildlife Sanctuary in Spencer. Sanctuary Director Ron Wolanin will give us a guided tour of this new property, which is not yet open to the public. Contact Ida Nystrom (508-829-9709 or inystrom@earthlink.net) for directions and to register.
Thursday, Dec. 18, 1:30 PM
Visit the new Hubbardston Open Space area on Malone Rd., off Mt. Jefferson Rd., with Sue Hall and Paul Miller. The walk is 2 to 3 miles round trip in a fairly flat area. Reward your walk with a nice view off toward Mt. Wachusett, the surrounding hills and the church steeple in Hubbardston. Meet at the MCRT parking lot at Wachusett St., Rutland. Contact Sue Hall (508-886-4061) for details.
Saturday, Jan. 10, 10 AM
Explore one of the Trustees of Reservations' properties (Nichewaug Tract or Brooks Woodland Preserve) in Petersham. Lunch will follow at the Country Store on the town green. Contact Ida Nystrom at 508-829-9709 or inystrom@earthlink.net.
Tuesday Jan. 13, 10 AM
Walk the three-mile loop at Mass Audubon's Eagle Lake Wildlife Sanctuary in Holden. Contact Chris Nichols (978-464-2328 or christinichols37@msn.com) with questions and to register.
Thursday, Jan. 22. 10 AM
Explore old roadways near Wachusett Reservoir in West Boylston. Contact Pauline Cloutier (508-829-4680) to sign up. Bring water and a snack.
Saturday, Jan. 24
Snowshoe at Harvard Forest in Petersham, then visit the Fisher Museum. Bring a snack and water. Contact Chris Nichols (978-464-2328 or christinichols37@msn.com) to sign up. Carpool from Holden at 9:15 or meet in Petersham at 10 AM.
Saturday, Jan. 31
Contact Peder Pedersen (978-422-2920) to sign up for a half-day walk in Leominster State Forest.
Join in for fun, learning and adventure!
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