Making Friends Along the Trail

Liz Harkins with Mike Spurling, her crack camera crew, stop for just a moment so I could get their picture

I met Liz last year when we were publicizing the Massachusetts Walking Tour, which came through Milford on its tour of the Blackstone Valley and nearby towns. She works for the Milford Cable TV station and conducted an interview with the folks of the Walking Tour, and with me as well.

She got really excited when she learned about the Easy Walks in Massachusetts trail books I author. We kept talking about doing some kind of video taping along the trail to help publicize my books and to help viewers understand what a gift we have right in our own backyards in this area.

Mike heads over to the bridge to get a closer look at the Upper Charles River, from the bridge

And then along came the idea for “Make Your Own Storybook” hikes. An idea that was the result of a “walk and talk” with Kathryn Parent, a Riverbend Farm Park staff, and I. We hosted several of these intergenerational, flexible outdoor programs in the Blackstone Valley. We partnered with the Blackstone Heritage Corridor, Inc. to help promote the program, and yet another group, “Roots in Nature” joined in to help get out the word about our programs.

View from the bridge–there is a beaver lodge right at the edge of some lucky people’s back yards

I wondered if we could share this program with other communities, and contacted Liz to see if the Milford Cable station was interested in helping bring the “Make Your Own Storybook” hike concept to Milford. I was overwhelmed with Liz’s response. She got me in touch with the staff at the Milford Youth Center, who welcomed me and helped set up a program that will run in May for the kids who attend the Milford Youth Center. And Liz organized an outdoor TV interview along the banks of the upper Charles River at the Upper Charles bike Trail, on a most gorgeous spring day.

A stunningly beautiful blue-sky day, with enough breeze so I never got too hot–yeah!

And in May the student leaders at the Youth Center will put the cable station cameras to work to document what a “Make Your Own Storybook” hike is all about, and we’ll explore this same area.

Great spot along the Upper Charles trail next to Fino Field in downtown Milford, a respite from the noise of the downtown

Yes, there will be a link to the interview once the hardworking cable tv folks in Milford have finished with their editing magic. But if you can, make time to get outdoors–spring is finally here,

Red winged blackbirds are announcing their arrival wherever there is water. Spring is here!

the red winged blackbirds are singing, the sun is shining, and the tips of the maples are turning deep red, ready to send out pollen and seeds before the green of spring bursts onto the scene.

And thanks, Liz, for all your help!

Marjorie

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors, and is the author of Easy Walks in Massachusetts, 2nd edition, More Easy Walks in Massachusetts, 2nd edition, Easy Walks and Paddles in the Ten Mile River Watershed, and Finding Easy Walks Wherever You Are. Her memoir, the backstory of Easy Walks, is My Liturgy of Easy Walks: Reclaiming hope in a world turned upside down.