President's Message:

I hope you will join us as we celebrate fifty years of protecting and preserving land in Newton at our annual dinner and silent auction May 25. Our strong voices are needed as much today as they were in 1961 - and here's one story which tells the reasons why.

Over the past few weeks, many of us watched conditions at areas of Nahanton Park, one of our real Newton treasures, go from bad to worse. (See Duane Hillis' article for more in detail.) Snow had been trucked in and stored in huge mounds for months, leaving the meadow, often the site of nesting bluebirds and swallows, deeply rutted and torn up. Piles of tree limbs and Christmas trees were making things worse. After working with the Friends of Nahanton Park and the Conservators, the City no longer stores tree limbs, is reconsidering next year's snow storage policy, and will restore the meadow as soon as possible - we hope, in time for the birds to decide it's safe to nest again this year. Together we worked hard and succeeded this time in protecting this beautiful sanctuary.

The Conservators have dozens of stories like this to tell from the last fifty years. Many of the parks and conservation areas we enjoy today were saved from development or encroachment because of our work. We have also preserved numerous other Newton parcels - now totaling approximately 100 acres - through conservation restrictions. Right now, we are working on three of those projects and have more in the pipeline. I look forward to telling you the stories of these parcels in the months to come. The speaker at our May 25 celebration is Bob Wilber, Land Protection Director for the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Mass Audubon now holds conservation restrictions on more than 5,000 acres throughout the state. Bob is an inspiring speaker who will share with us thoughts about the importance of this work in a suburban environment.

Please help us with our work to preserve special places in Newton by supporting our first ever silent auction, which brings together the local business community with lovers of open space. Here is a small sampling of what you can bid on:

Please come and enjoy the fun. Invitations will be arriving in your mailbox soon. If you let us know by May 1, you can still be a sponsor or gift donor. Please visit the auction page to sponsor the auction or donate an item.

Jane Sender
Newton Conservators President