Beebe Estate

A Message from Your Executive Director:
Opportunities to get involved and make a difference with Friends of the Fells

Greetings, and Happy New Year!

In the first four months acting as your Executive Director, I’ve been impressed by the vibrant community of dedicated volunteers who generously give their time to care for our Fells forest. Why not consider joining other like-minded people who share your love for the forest and volunteer with the Friends in 2020?

Opportunities abound for involvement. If you’re an avid hiker in the Fells, you might consider becoming a Trail Adopter to help us maintain over 100 miles of trails in the Fells. If you enjoy young children and are enthusiastic sharing nature with them, you might consider learning more about our Babes in the Woods program (which brings young families on hikes just about every Tuesday morning of the year), and joining the volunteer team leading these hikes.

If you have a passion for improving habitat and saving trees from invasive plants (think Oriental Bittersweet), consider visiting our Stewardship Committee and learning more about our plans for on-the-ground efforts this coming spring. Or, if you like digging into local politics or tracking environmental legislation at the statehouse, you might be a good fit for our new Advocacy Committee, tasked with cultivating relationships with decision makers, advancing the Friends’ policy positions, and sniffing out and combating external threats to the Fells (e.g. our recent work to protect the 90mm site).

We’re also developing a new Conservation & Science Committee. Initial focus areas will include ecology, citizen-science research, biodiversity, and the effects of climate change on the Fells.

Finally, we’re also on the lookout for volunteers to help fulfill some unique “skill” volunteer positions in many additional areas, including finance, fundraising, social media, and more.

A list of upcoming committee meetings is provided below. Please consider attending an upcoming meeting to learn more about how volunteering for the Friends can be put into your action plan for 2020.

January Board Meeting: Tuesday, January 14^th, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

(**Board meetings are schedule for the second Tuesday of every month)

Stewardship Committee: Wednesday, January 15, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM

Advocacy Committee: Wednesday, January 22^nd, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Conservation & Science Committee: Thursday, February 6^th, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

(This meeting is a conference call. Please contact us to find out how to participate.)

Development Committee: TBD; last week of January

NOTE: All Friends of the Fells committee and board meetings are held at the Beebe Estate unless otherwise noted, located at 235 West Foster Street in Melrose.

For more information on volunteering, contact us at friends@fells.org!

Stay warm out there,

Chris Redfern

On September 25th, Friends of the Fells hosted it’s 2014 Volunteer Appreciation Reception at the Beebe Estate. About 20 guests joined us that night including Friends’ staff and board members, Trail Adopters, Babes in the Woods leaders, and others who support us in the office, in the field, or in our various publicity efforts. The Friends of the Fells could not function without significant volunteer participation in all aspects of our work and programs. While we appreciate our volunteers every day, it was great to have one night set aside to focus on them.

The event was scheduled during Fells Art Month at the Beebe, so that guests could browse the various works of art celebrating “Nature, our Most Precious Resource.” A selection of cheeses and delicious pies were served and a slideshow of our “volunteers in action” was displayed continuously through the evening. Volunteers spent the evening relaxing, sharing stories and catching up on the latest goings-on in and around the Fells. It was a grand way to spend a crisp Autumn evening, with fine food, fine art and fine people.

Friends of the Fells extends a hearty thank you to ALL of our volunteers, for all that you do. We owe you more gratitude than one evening can demonstrate, but we very much enjoyed this opportunity to step out of our busy lives and reflect on the great experiences we’ve shared. We’ll have to do it again, soon.