The BLOG: Lifestyle

Preserving Massachusetts: The Trustees of Reservations reach milestone

Di checks in from the Trustees of Reservations' 125th anniversary celebration.

Di checks in from the Trustees of Reservations’ 125th anniversary celebration.

The Trustees of Reservations are celebrating the 125th anniversary of the largest conservation and preservation organization in our nation. Meticulous planning of this year’s fete assures there will be countless songs to sing, trails to hike, birds to watch, and leaves to peep. For Trustees and friends, 2016 is a year to share irreplaceable natural and cultural treasures of New England’s distinctive charms with everyone.

Within Massachusetts the Trustees of Reservations own 116 properties. Those diverse ecosystems from the Berkshires to Boston, from Pioneer Valley to the Cape and islands total 27,000 acres of maintained beaches, campgrounds, farmlands, gardens, gorges, hiking trails, homesteads, inns, parks and waterfalls. Funded by members, donors and friends, Trustees with community partners also protect an additional 25,000 acres of Massachusetts conservation lands across the state.

The history of this organization began as an initiative of landscape architect Charles Eliot. As a young apprentice of Fredrick Law Olmsted, Eliot was a pioneer of regional planning, helping to establish fundamentals of conservancy around the world. Through his association with Olmsted the 1882 Harvard grad worked on Franklin Park, the Arnold Arboretum, the Fens, and other projects designed to protect landscapes around Boston. Eliot feared Boston’s booming manufacturing businesses of the times would leave the city permanently scared by consumption of farmland, river-ways and historically significant properties. A pivotal scheme to defend a cluster of virgin trees in Belmont — as well as wetlands in Sherborne — led to a strategic conservation conference at MIT in 1890. Principles of Eliot’s preservational mindset led Massachusetts legislators to create the Trustees of Reservations in the spring of 1891. Roots of this scholarship branched into the world’s first organization created to “acquire, hold, protect, and administer, for the benefit of the public, beautiful and historical places.”

Eliot with Olmstead collaborators conceptualized plans for esplanades along the Charles River in Boston, Watertown, Newton, and Cambridge. The visionary, whose life was ended by spinal meningitis at 37, is responsible for many of the exceptionally scenic vistas that today personify Boston’s uniquely beautiful urban landscapes. It was Eliot’s intention the statewide organization should hold land, free of taxes, the way libraries house books and museums protect paintings.

Today, one of the breathtaking treasures of the Reservations is Castle Hill on the Crane Estate in Ipswich. On the night of Saturday, Aug. 6, the Estate and the Boston Pops esplanade orchestra rolled out the green carpet for 6,000 ticketed guests to picnic on the Castle’s seaside Grand Allée. Punctuated by pedestal-ed Romanesque statuary, the mansion’s bucolic evergreens stood still as suspended planetary-sized glowing orbs swayed overhead. Kids played on the landmark vista while adults lounged waiting for the sun to set, stars to twinkle and the orchestra to play by the light of the crescent moon.

Robert Bernhardt conducted the milestone concert that, for the first time, married the iconic venue to the celebrated orchestra. It was the intention of Trustee President Barbara Erickson, that “the music, moonlight and magic of the evening surround the guests.” Just as she had hoped the chiffon gowns of Tony nominee, Broadway performer Megan Hilty fluttered in the ocean breeze as she sang popular arraignments of Someone to Watch Over Me, and Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend accompanied by the world famous orchestra. After a standing ovation, even the castle’s stairway rocked as Maestro Bernhardt’s baton swung into Led Zeppelin’s heavenly classic Stairway to Heaven, Abba’s Dancing Queen and eight abbreviated sing-a-long tunes which included Mick Jagger’s Satisfaction.

As satiating as the night was the Trustees have planned other equally exciting opportunities for all to “get out, get inspired and find magic in the moments at a property near you.” Other fun-filled events include; additional rocking nights at Crane’s castle, full moon Hot Toddy hikes at Bartholomew’s cobble in Sheffield, ice cream socials, Mindfulness classes at Powisett Farm in Dover, sunset tours of Nantucket, lighthouse tours of Cape Poge in Martha’s Vineyard, family fishing clinics and disc-golf outings in Medfield, flower fields cutting at Stevens-Coolidge Place in North Andover and hawk-watching at Chestnut Hill farm in Southborough. There will be canoe trips, yoga lessons, movie nights and speak-easy events to name a fraction of the upcoming nature embracing activities scheduled by Trustees.




Adding man-made participatory art to nature’s landscapes, The Meeting House is the first exhibition of the Trustees’ public art series. Opened in July at the Old Manse in Concord the installation by conceptual artist Sam Durant is free and will remain available to explore African presence in colonial and post-revolutionary Concord through October. Set for a fall opening is a mirrored Jeppe Hein exhibit in Hingham entitled, A New End. Hein, based in Berlin and Copenhagen, is known for combining his minimalist artistry with humor.

According to thetrustees.org, Reservations are “located within minutes of every resident.” Included at the site that begins with their mission statement “to preserve for public use and enjoyment, properties of exceptional scenic, historic and ecological value in Massachusetts,” the Trustees of Reservations have included their eclectic, comprehensive list of activities with dates and times planned to celebrate the vision of Charles Eliot and 125 years of passionate stewardship.

Contact Diane Kilgore at [email protected].