IN THE NEWS

LAKES REGION CONSERVATION TRUST NAMES VOLUNTEERS OF THE YEAR

November 2004

MEREDITH - The Lakes Region Conservation Trust (LRCT) has named two men its Volunteers of the Year. They are Gregg Roark, who chaired the fund drive to raise $945,000 to protect the Munro parcel in Sewell Woods, and Peter Von Mertens, who chaired the campaign for Pine Hill on Squam Lake, raising $1,268,000.

For more than 10 years, Sewell Woods has been the focus of LRCT conservation efforts in Wolfeboro. The Trust, in 1999, purchased the 37-acre McBride property, one of four parcels in the Woods, and received in 2000 Ray Tuttle's donation of an additional 35 acres. In 2003, the Trust was offered the opportunity to protect the keystone 65-acre portion of the Munro property for $945,000. Simultaneously, a conservation-minded neighbor purchased the 37-acre Horne parcel, giving the Trust a 3-year option and the chance to complete the protection of all four Sewall Woods parcels. Sewell Woods, located a few blocks from downtown Wolfeboro, is a popular cross-country skiing and hiking site, with a network of groomed trails.

Gregg Roark agreed to chair the fund drive in September 2003. His challenge was to raise the money by Dec. 31 of that year. LRCT President Tom Curren noted that Roark was "highly respected and approached the task with a lot of energy." The drive got off to a slow start, raising only $325,000 by the end of October. By the last week of November, the fund was at $480,000, and a week later had reached $630,000 as public support for preserving Wolfeboro's equivalent of New York's Central Park grew. Dec. 18 found the fund at $766,000. In those last two weeks of the year, area residents, visitors and second-home owners gave the town a Christmas gift of the last $179,000. The Volunteer of the Year award was presented to Roark, "In gratitude for his dedicated leadership."

When the LRCT learned of the impending sale of the Sturtevant Farm at Pine Hill in Moultonborough (one of the last remaining farmsteads on Squam Lake), for subdivision and development, a group of landowners came together to assist in a list-ditch attempt to save the property. The farm and tavern was once host to poets John Greenleaf Whittier and Lucy Larcom, and had been a popular stop on the stagecoach run from Meredith to Sandwich. It encompasses 120 acres above Bean Cove.

Summer resident Peter Von Mertens of Lincoln, Mass., led the effort to raise $1,200,000, and was successful in educating the public to the desirability of preserving the site for future generations. Presently, Peter is laying out a cross-country ski trail on the newly-protected property. The Trust recognized "his inspirational role and tireless work" in naming Von Mertens a Volunteer of the Year.