Parks Committee
Members are Cindy Kimball (Chair), Skipp Green, Peg Nation and Jeff Harrington.
The Waterford Parks Committee came about as a result of the 2012 Town Meeting.
There are eight properties owned by the town available for public use: Hawk Mountain, Mount Tire'm, Gage Beach, Werner Park, Crooked River Park, Town House Beach, the Commons and Bear Pond Park. There are annual visits to these sites to assess, report and recommend to selectmen any necessary repairs, issues, possible improvements, or safety concerns. We welcome new members and volunteers interested in helping maintain and enhance our town parks.
Improvements for Waterford Parks for 2013 include new signs at Crooked River Park (formerly Crooked River Rest Area), Hawk Mountain and Bear Pond Park.
At Bear Pond Park, the brush was cut back . A walking path now loops through the trees along the shoreline towards the river and two old wells were filled in. A split rail fence was installed with three birch trees and perennials planted along side it.
Werner Park has several new swings and many of the existing pieces received a fresh coat of paint. The "clown fixture" was repaired/welded, and painted and now supports two new safety swings for babies/toddlers. One of the original benches has been restored and re-installed.
The new improvements to the electrical service at the Waterford Common are making events more amenable. A Farmers Market at the Common last summer was well received by locals and visitors alike on Monday afternoons from 3-6 p.m.
The public is welcome at our meetings, which are held on the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the Town Office. Waterford residents are fortunate to have so many pleasant natural public areas in which to swim, hike, picnic and enjoy. The Parks Committee wishes to express its thanks to all of the citizens of Waterford who use these public areas in a responsible manner.
Bear Pond Park view on the first day of summer, 2017.
BEAR POND PARK BENCHES - Tyler Rondeau, 16, of Waterford is shown at Bear Pond Park June 20, 2015 unloading the benches he built as part of his Eagle Scout project.
Bear Pond Park taking shape
Waterford Parks Committee members with the help of Ray Holme installed 70 feet of split rail fence at the Bear Pond Park on Route 37 in 2013. Above, Peg Nation at left watches as Ray Holme digs another post hole, At right are Judy Haynes and Mary Ann Holme. Committee members Skipp Green and Donna McCarraher also helped. Most of the heavy work (digging the post holes) was done by Ray Holme and Judy Haynes. We had one local resident stop by to compliment us on our work and asked if we couldn’t find an “older crew” to work on this project. The project was done in an hour and Peg Nation provided homemade cookies for the crew. Special thanks to Ray Holme who made the trip to Conway, NH to get the fencingp. Also, thanks to Gale Bell for his timely mowing of the area prior to the fence installation. Thanks to Colin Holme for planting a young paper birch near the fence. More planting will be done around the fence in the future to protect the water from the highway run off. This fall, the Parks Committee plans to plant donated lilacs by the fence, and are acceptiong donations for native plants to plant in the area. A sign will also be going up soon welcoming Waterford’s newest public park.
Photo and text by Donna McCarraher, committee chair