I spent half of my day on Thursday, Aug. 16, hiking around most of the Richards Reservoir in Warwick with 13 children, ages 4-13, and several adults. The occasion was a unique collaboration between the North Quabbin Trails Association (NQTA), of which I am an active member, and Warwick’s Trinitarian Congregational Church “Vacation Bible Days” program.
I’m not a member of that church, but I know several people who belong to it, and I admire its role as a progressive and unifying force in my neighboring town of Warwick, population 757. The church is on Athol Road in the center of Warwick, six miles from my house, where my garden shed was built many years ago by carpenter Dan Dibble, now Reverend Dan Dibble, pastor of the church.
Dan organized the hike along with Bobby Curley, president of the NQTA. Tom Ziniti, active church member and special education teacher in the Warwick Community School, helped with the event, as did Clare Green of Warwick, Don Shambroom of South Royalston, and several other adults who chaperoned the kids.
The hike focused on three themes – nature, art and physical exercise. I didn’t hear any of the youngsters complain about being tired or bored. One girl got stung by a wasp, her first-ever sting, but Tom Ziniti’s first-aid kit, Clare Green’s stash of baking soda, and some words of encouragement from others made her feel better. A boy got some small wounds from a fall on rocks and branches, but he was also brave and allowed the adults to clean up the bleeding and attach some bandages.
We gathered at the church at 9 a.m. and a half-hour later, following a short drive up Richmond Road close to the New Hampshire town line, we entered the trail, which is part of the New England National Scenic Trail. A sign is at the trail head north of high tension wires. It was created by Harry and Susan Sharbaugh of Erving, trail stewards, and helps hikers understand that the New England Trail (with white blazes) is partly on the reservoir perimeter, while the rest of the perimeter is reached by a blue-blazed spur.
The New England Trail starts in Guilford, Conn., on the Long Island Sound, and includes much of the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, officially ending at the New Hampshire state line in Royalston. The M&M trail continues to the Monadnock summit.
The Richards Reservoir is named for George N. Richards, a prominent Warwick resident in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Charles Morse’s Warwick town history notes that he “bought the saw and stave mill owned by Woodcock and Sawyer on Black Brook, where the Ayres grist mill had stood in colonial days. He repaired the dam and created the pond that still bears his name, and also operated a blacksmith shop and cider mill.”
During Thursday’s hike, the group was carefully and safely organized with Bobby Curley at the lead and Clare Green serving as the last person or “sweeper,” so that everyone else was in between the two of them.
There were many stops where the adults shared information and encouraged the kids’ participation and appreciation of their experience. There were several vistas that included the open water parts of the reservoir, as well as the wetland filled with vegetation, including water lilies and other flowers.
Dan Dibble suggested they keep track of the various colors of mushrooms. Clare spoke about the vegetation, including trees and flowers, encouraging the youngsters to even invent their own name for the display of thousands of white flowers growing in the large wetland. The hikers were encouraged to bring notebooks with them for sketching and journaling. Artist Don Shambroom pointed out the importance of light and color and encouraged them to create their own images with the varied greens of the forest, the white clouds and blue sky.
I spoke briefly, defining a watershed and explaining that this reservoir, like most of Warwick, is part of the Millers River watershed. I noted that the reservoir’s water starts in New Hampshire and makes its way to the Millers via streams of varied names, the last one being the Orcott Brook in West Orange. When we crossed high tension wires, I pointed out that only a century ago, most of this region did not have electric power and people lived a very different lifestyle. There were kerosene lamps, and before that whale oil lamps, I told them.
At the end of the hike, we gathered near an old dam for a picnic lunch. Gordon Ellis of Warwick arrived with a guitar and Reverend Dan handed out the “Vacation Bible Days Songbook.” We sang David Mallet’s iconic “Garden Song” (“inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow”), the “Circle of Life” by Elton John and Tim Rice, and other tunes with a combined spiritual and environmental message.
It may be a cliché, but I’ll end this column sincerely with the oft-heard phrase “A good time was had by all.”