Volunteers improving the trail.

            Life can be tough for citizens’ groups and nonprofits in the Era of the Coronavirus. It’s gotten harder to procure needed funding, and many projects have been put on hold. One local nonprofit, however, has recently celebrated many small victories. The Friends of Cold Spring Park is determined to continue its mission: to improve the experience of the many thousands of residents who come for hiking, running, birding, enjoying its flora and fauna, and playing on its athletic fields and courts. It helped launch the coalition to keep the Senior Center from moving to Cold Spring Park or any other green space in Newton. Of late we have focused in particular on rehabilitating the trails. Boy Scout troops have built and placed boardwalks across stretches of trail most prone to flooding. Through creative fundraising, we have repaired other stretches with pulverized rock. Volunteers are presently constructing a kiosk that will contain maps of the park and information about park life. Newton’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture has provided us valued guidance and assistance in these endeavors.

            But much remains to be done. Preserving the native flora, for example, has also been a major concern in recent years as invasives threaten the park’s delicate ecological balance. Volunteers from the Friends and the Newton Conservators have helped restore sites in the park like Small Meadow and weeded out loads of Tree of Heaven and other invasives that crowd out native plants, some of which support our local pollinators: butterflies, native bumblebees, and birds. We love our park and want to protect it!

            The Friends of Cold Spring Park will soon begin a new fundraising initiative so that we can complete our major current goal: the rehabilitation of the entire park trail network. In the first stage, now completed, the Friends raised more than $25,000 for needed maintenance. Large stretches of trail, unfortunately, remain rocky, root-bound, and downright hazardous. The next stage will require at least $30,000, most of it to come from the generosity of residents, with matching funds sometimes provided by businesses and corporations. To learn more about the resurfacing project, click on this link to watch a brief video: https://youtu.be/1GHg-JMkD1c. Better yet, donate online to the trail restoration project: https://coldspringpark.org/donate/.

            When the pandemic gets me down and I tire of being at home, I often turn to the trails of Cold Spring Park to restore my spirits. Newton is blessed to have this tract of 67 unsullied acres to enjoy and appreciate. Here’s hoping that the public will pitch in by donating funds and energy to preserve this precious resource.