Archives: Blog

New Palette Bridge

The very long, muddy puddle that sits right beyond the Burlington Soccer Field kiosk has been a problem every spring. So it has been temporarily helped by placing a series of wooden shipping palettes as a bridge. And the first “testers” were a group including 93-year old walker. They made it safely over the long, deep puddle. There are more large puddles elsewhere that we will turn to next.

State Senator Ken Donnelly Passes, a Great Friend to Mary Cummings Park

We were greatly saddened to hear of the passing of State Senator Ken Donnelly. We met with him just last summer to advance the process of having the Trustees of Reservations become park managers for the City of Boston. Ken was the main force behind this long-time effort. He looked out for Mary Cummings Park at many times over the years, using his influence to help preserve and enhance the park.

Mary Cummings Park was but one small aspect of the widespread efforts Ken brought to his constituents. Along with friends, family, and colleagues, we mourn the passing of a truly dedicated, effective, public servant.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to:

  • Arlington Youth Counseling Services, 670 R Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Ma 02146
  • Appalachian Mountain Club Youth Opportunities Program, 5 Joy Street, Boston, Ma, 02108
  • Greater Boston Legal Services, 197 Friend Street, Boston, Ma, 02114

Nature Walk with The Trustees, March 4, 2017

A sizable group of hearty people (it was 18 degrees and windy!) joined the March Nature walk with The Trustees, exploring the various landscapes of Mary Cummings Park. We learned about the farmlands, most overgrown with invasive weed, the forests, and the wetlands. This was the first co-sponsored walk between the Friends of Mary Cummngs Park and The Trustees (of Reservations).

Ed Wilson welcomed the group and brought us up to date on the progress of Boston’s negotiations with The Trustees, which are moving along well.

Then Russell Hopping led the group on an informative walk from meadows to woods to wetlands.

January 7, 2017: Stone Wall Rescue

Despite the snow, we had a great time rescuing a section of wall that was covered with dead trees and vines. We had a visitor who later donated a nice amount of money, and a fellow with a dog, who help clear the brush. (Both the dog AND the fellow helped clear the brush.) Stay tuned for more stone wall rescues as well as TREE rescues, where great old hardwoods are being attacked by invasive vines.

Check out the Walnut Hill Trackers on their own website. Their walks in central Mass around the Quabbin are spectacular!

Below the video, see a Google map of where we did this rescue.



Here is the map of where we did the rescue. The exact location is the four-way intersection southwest of the Northeastern Campus.

December 3, 2016: Inspired by Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy is a British sculptor and photography whose work has delighted and inspired people worldwide. He creates works that are temporary, out of leaves, stones, ice, and similar materials. You can read more about him in many places online and buy his incredible books on Amazon, among other places. He called his first book “A Collaboration with Nature”, which describes how he works.

We wondered if we could create temporary pieces inspired by his, pieces that would not affect the woods in any permanent way, and that would simply fade away with time. The gallery shows the little works we created on our December 3, 2016 walk.

So our December 3, 2016 Nature Walk was given over to making our own “Collaborations with Nature”. here were the “rules”.

  1. Only use materials you find lying on the forest floor; no cutting down trees
  2. People may work on their own or form teams
  3. People can choose just to watch
  4. We will photograph the results and post them on this site

Dave Cummings Looks Back

Dave Cummings is a relative of Mary Cummings, who gave us this park. We sat down to talk to Dave about his memories of growing up next to the park, and many other aspects of his life. Enjoy this video interview with Dave.

If you have memories of Mary Cummings Park that you would like to share, let us know via our contact page.

September Sunset Timelapse

I often go to Mary Cummings Park just to watch the sun set behind the treeline.

You never know how a sunset will turn out. This one was colorless, but promising, with lots of different cloud systems at work. Normally I bring lots of high end photo gear, but on this day I was replacing old signs with new, and didn’t want the extra weight and hassle of the cameras. So I set up my iPhone on timelapse mode and let it go. I couldn’t actually see the sun when I started the sequence and didn’t realize it was way over on the right, almost out of the frame.

But I watched with some delight as the sunset ripened and became quite spectacular.

And when it was over, and barely light enough to see my way home, I noticed a doe and a fawn grazing in the grass, too dark to photograph. Not a bad evening at Mary Cummings Park, here inside the 95-128 beltway. A miracle, actually.