Community Corner

Medfield Resident Reaps 'Personal Rewards' by Volunteering at Rocky Woods

Ellen Redfield is a volunteer with the Trustees of Reservations at Rocky Woods and other local Trustees properties.

One of the largest non-profits in Massachusetts, and the nation’s oldest statewide land conservation organization, The Trustees depend on and is grateful for thousands of hours of volunteer time each year to help run and manage its 106 reservations for public use and enjoyment, including and numerous properties across the Charles River Valley.

Last year, generous volunteers donated nearly 60,000 hours of their time to The Trustees, up from 50,000 hours the year before.

One of those devoted and enthusiastic volunteers is Medfield resident and retired social worker, Ellen Redfield.

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Redfield said volunteering with the organization is a natural fit, calling it “more of an avocation or calling” and saying The Trustees is “the kind of organization that I wanted to give my time to.”

As a trail steward, she helps to prevent erosion, maintain trails, pick up trash, replace trail maps, prune overgrowth, clip back branches, remove downed trees, and other tasks.  

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She calls the job “a natural for me,” since she already walked the trails of many of The Trustees’ Charles River Valley properties. She also appreciates the variety and flexibility offered by volunteering at these properties, where she said she “never gets bored” while learning about things like trail design and maintenance, bird box monitoring and attracting Solitary Bees. Redfield adds that she has a deep connection to Rocky Woods in particular. 

“I’ve always come over here to walk. I love this property,” She said.

Redfield has also had the chance to become familiar with other properties that she didn’t visit as much. Now, she spends her time among many of the Charles River Valley properties, including Noanet Woodlands in Dover, Noon Hill and Rocky Narrows in Medfield, Charles River Peninsula, in Needham, and Cormier Woods.

She considers the Trustees properties to be “a gift,” she says. “I like to get out here, away from the noise and away from the traffic and the cell phones … listen to the birds and the animals … smell the smells. It’s a mental, emotional and physical thing.”

Redfield and volunteers like her will have many opportunities this fall to get involved at these special places in the Charles River Valley.

On Saturday, Oct. 8, there was a "Down and Dirty Trail Project," where volunteers rolled up their sleeves and let a hand to maintain some of the 52 miles of trails found in the Charles River Valley. Volunteers and staff met at Noon Hill in Medfield at 9 a.m. and set out to various properties.

Projects included trail maintenance and initial bridge construction on the Bay Circuit Trail. On Oct. 23, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., there will be an Invasive Species Removal Project, where crews of volunteers will remove known invasive populations and monitor trails for new infestations. No experience is necessary, interested volunteers should plan to meet at Powisset Farm in Dover.


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