Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Saturday, April 25,
2009
Quick Article Index . .
Uncovering the Stone
Barn Farm.
WRWA continues Earth
Week with Recycling.
Westport fair has a
new building.
Westport land Trust gets $75K for bread and Cheese Brook.
Free ice cream at
Simmons Store!
Beach services building delayed says State Rep Rodrigues.
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Uncovering
the Stone Barn Farm. EverythingWestport.com Saturday, April
25, 2009
Mass
Audubon and Allens
Pond Sanctuary hosted its 3rd annual Statewide Volunteer Day as
over 30 volunteers showed up to lend a helping hand or two to prepare the
flowerbeds, plant seeds, transplant donated perennials and shrubs, and
construct a picnic table at the farmhouse. They also worked on two rain
gardens, and did a yeomen’s job of clearing stonewalls and overgrown vines
and vegetation around the property. They even squeezed in fabricating several
sections of boardwalk for their future walking trail. All in all, not a bad
morning! According to the DNRT, in July 2005, "Stone Barn
Farm", an ecologically significant 104-acre property between Horseneck
Road and Allen's Pond in Dartmouth, was protected by the Massachusetts
Audubon Society, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
(DCR), and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Ms.
Purtell also started volunteers Nancy and Pam on retrieving, cleaning and
organizing Gil Fernandez’ extensive collection of books for future inclusion
into a visiting scholars’ library on the property. “Gil’s extensive
collection of books on wildlife, gardening, stewardship, land management and
ecological habitat will provide wonderful resource material to visiting
scholars,” Ms. Puirtell said.
Diane
Bell (pictured below), Director of the Community Services Center at
Bridgewater State College, came down with several Bridgewater State students.
“These youngsters donate one Saturday a month to service,” she said. “It’s
wonderful to see kids of this age so eager to leave their computers and Play
Station 3’s at home, and volunteer for community service projects. Today they
will learn a great deal about flower gardening for wildlife habitat.”
Uncovering
the Stone Barn Farm. Gil
Fernandez, educator, conservationist, and photographer lived at Stone Barn
Farm for half of his long life. "I
met him in 1970 when he was just getting his osprey platforms going,"
WRWA Executive Director Gay Gillespie said. "DDT was being identified as
a problem (in the summer of 1972 the EPA banned virtually all uses of DDT in
the U.S.) for the osprey and other birds. They weren't returning to the river
and their eggs had thin shells and were dying before they hatched." It is a
marvel to Mrs. Gillespie that because of the work of Mr. Fernandez "we
now have one of the largest osprey concentrations in the world."
From
9 a.m. to noon 30 volunteers refreshed the buildings and grounds of this
historic property for spring and summer use. They cleaned windows, walls and
floors, organized books and photographs for the library, and spackled cracks in
the walls before painting can begin. Beyond
the buildings, volunteers worked on a trail extension, and were able to
complete two sections of wooden trail walkways. This
project had both indoor and outdoor components and was suitable for all ages. For
more information on this or other Allens Pond Sanctuary projects contact Gina
Purtell at (508) 636-2437 or email her at: allenspond@massaudubon.org. 1280 Horseneck Road, Westport, MA 02790
From left to right: (1) Betsey White mans the pickax to clear roots in
preparation for planting along this classic New England dry stone wall; (2)
clearing brush was a family affair for these volunteers; (3) Lauren (center)
of Allens Pond Sanctuary gives instructions to these Bridgewater State
College volunteers on how to prepare one of the two planned rain gardens; and
(4) Gina gives instructions to volunteers Pam and Gina as to how best sort
Fernandez’ vast book collection. WRWA continues Earth Week with Recycling. EverythingWestport.com Saturday, April 24,
2009
You
really begin to appreciate the disposable society we live in as perfectly
good TVs, computers, DVD players, cathode ray tube computer monitors and
other equally outdated devices hit the trash bucket in favor of the newer,
faster, better and smaller offspring that replace them. Rose
Knarr of Westport (photo left) gladly handed over to Charlie Gerrior of the
WRWA her stack of DVD players that had seen better days. “I do this every
year during recycling week,” Ms. Knarr said. From
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, the Westport River Watershed Alliance hosted a
recycling pickup for unloved electronics in the back of Westport Town Hall.
The event was a big success last year, and Complete Recycling Solutions from
Fall River again came back this year with two trucks to take unwanted electronic equipment away at special
discounted rates, and dispose of them properly. CRTs (computer
monitors), computers, smoke detectors, mercury devices, faxes, and printers,
microwaves, televisions of all sizes, lead and lithium batteries, fluorescent
bulbs, and other select items were accepted at varying prices.
For
more information about this event call Charlie Gerrior at (508)
636-3016. You can also visit their website at www.westportwatershed.org.
Westport
Fair crafters and exhibitors get a new home. EverythingWestport.com Friday, April 24,
2009 View
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And what a home
it is! The Pine Hill Road fairgrounds
now sports a new 54’ x 120’ impossibly-blue metal building with a sealed
concrete floor and three cupolas on top. “Morton Building out of Illinois put
up our entertainment building back in 1986,” Ms. Potter said. “It took years
of hard labor to raise the money for this new exhibition building, but it’s
paid for!” (Remember those
Saturday night food raffles at the fair!) The new crafters
and exhibition building (name to come later) originally was going to have a
dirt floor, but “wet weather conditions and grading issues could create muddy
and unstable footing conditions inside for visitors and vendors alike.” So concrete
it was. Gene Freitas Concrete Inc. of Westport did the job and was finishing
up the apron work when the above photo was taken. “We’re the best in town!”
That’s Gene, always modest. The new building
will be equipped with permanent lightning. “The stringing of temporary lights
in the old rented tent was always a hardship,” Ms. Potter said. “Also, each
of the cupolas will have an electrified fan, providing the necessary
ventilation during those hot July days. With three doors and the fans the
building should be comfortable.” Drainage stone
was put down on the north and south sides to accommodate the heavy water flow
a building of that size will produce during thunderstorms and flash rain
showers. The Fair’s
vendors and crafters will enjoy a fully secure facility, set up their booths
with little fanfare, and have protection from wind, rain and heat. “The
thousands of Westport Fair visitors will have a much more enjoyable
experience because of this building. We are very pleased,” Ms. Potter said. EverythingWestport.com Friday, April 24,
2009
Help us out here all you home gardeners! Click
here to email us what you think it is. Don’t wait too long.
It appears to be an early spring flowering groundcover.
Westport Land Conservation Trust awarded $75,000
Conservation Partnership Grant EverythingWestport.com Tuesday,
April 21, 2009 View
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The
EOEEA’s Conservation Partnership Program is designed to help non-profit
organizations purchase land or interests in land (such as conservation
restrictions) for conservation or recreation. Grant recipients must convey a perpetual
conservation restriction to either the community where a project exists or to
a state agency, and the protected property must be open to the public. Projects are prioritized for funding based
on their ability to conserve biodiversity, protect water quality, promote
recreation, and preserve working farms and forests. “The
Brookside Conservation Project is the most northern acquisition we have
pursued to date,” said Peggy Stevens of the Westport Land Conservation
Trust. “We are delighted that the
Commonwealth is joining us in our efforts to protect this 3.5 acre piece that
includes both sides of the Brook just below Route 177. We expect to complete the purchase by the
end of June 2009.” “The
Commonwealth’s commitment to partnering with local land trusts continues with
this announcement,” said Representative Rodrigues, “This funding now gives
the Westport Land Conservation Trust the ability to move forward in
preserving another of Westport’s precious natural resources for the benefit
of the community.” In
1972, recognizing the vital importance of Westport's natural resources, and
the need for community involvement in preserving them, a group of local residents
formed the Westport Land Conservation Trust. Since then, the land trust has
joined the efforts of various Town and State agencies to help many Westport
property owners protect their land in keeping with its simple mission: ·
To acquire and
preserve natural resources, farmland and wildlife areas for the use and
enjoyment of present and future generations; to preserve and protect historic
sites; to educate the public about the wise use of natural resources; and to
work with other organizations having similar purposes. “I
am very pleased that the Westport Land Conservation Trust has been able to
secure this grant money. This is a testament to their hard work and
commitment in preserving and protecting some of our most valued treasures,”
said Senator Menard.
Fall and winter scenes
illustrate the character and beauty of Bread and Cheese Brook. The
Trustees of Reservations, which has a long standing partnership with the Land
Trust in Westport, provided technical assistance with the grant
application. “The Brookside
Conservation Project connects to another five acre property that has
heretofore been landlocked,” stated Jennifer Holske, Director of South Coast
Conservation for The Trustees of Reservations. “Once the Brookside property has been
protected, and a parking lot has been installed, the entire 8.5 acres will be
open to the public for fishing and hiking.” EOEEA’s
Conservation Partnership Program has protected 797 acres of land since it was
established in 2006. Funding for Conservation Partnership grants comes from
the Energy and Environment Bond Bill signed by Governor Patrick in August of
2008. EverythingWestport.com Wednesday,
April 22, 2009
Jennifer Holewka (pictured
left with Ralph Borden) announced that they will give away free ice cream to
the first 500 people who drop off a donation between 4 and 6 p.m. that day. “Please
bring non-perishable items, canned goods, dry goods, new clothes and new
toys. All items will be distributed by the town’s social food worker, Susan
Sisson of Little Compton,” Ms. Holewka said. “We did 300 cones last year.
Help us reach our goal of 500. Stop bye on Monday afternoon with your
donation!” This
is Simmons’ 3rd annual food drive. “We’re hoping for a little
better and a little bigger turnout this year. Last year we had people
donating cases of canned food, and that was great. We filled up a truck and
then some,” she added. “There’s
usually a line at the door by 4 p.m.; one girl has been first for the last
two years,” Ms. Holewka noted. “This year we’re serving dishes and cones of
either Gifford’s and or Hood ice cream. Please come by and see us! We’re just
past Adamsville Pond.” For
more information call Jennifer at 1 (401) 635-2420. View
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Broadband/DSL speed | Beach services building delayed says State Rep
Rodrigues. EverythingWestport.com Thursday, April
23, 2009
“Unfortunately, a
very bad winter will delay the opening of the new beach services building at
Horseneck Beach until probably mid-August,” said Rodrigues. “The severe
winter prevented any real progress until April.” The beach
services building – shown left in the early spring morning mist of Westport’s
seashore - is part of the $8.5 million restoration project for the 50+ year
old aging facilities at Horseneck Beach. Completion will miss the mid-June
opening Rodrigues said, but “the amenities it will provide are well worth the
wait”. The new services
building will join the fabulous twin bathhouses and dune boardwalks completed
last year. The overall project is certainly one of the finer efforts of the
Department of Conservation and Recreation. The new services
building will house a first aid station, lifeguard facilities, additional
public restrooms, and administrative offices. Plus an updated concession
stand will round out this wonderful complex.
On another matter,
the “DCR will not take any action this year on removing and relocating the 32
oceanfront trailer lots at the state campground,” Rodrigues said. They are
still committed to preserving the dunes and want to move forward with that
proposal but it “will be over my dead body,” he said. Click here to read more about this controversial issue.
New bathhouse and dunes
boardwalk. - - - - - End - - -
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