Report on Organizational Meeting
Friends of the Warwick State Forests
7 p.m., Thursday, March 19, 2009
Meeting moved from library to town hall because of lack of space In all,
24 people showed up:

Four from the DCR (including Conrad Crawford from the Boston office,
Dwayne Ericson from the regional office in Clinton, and our old friend,
Walt Morgan (who will be taking a well deserved retirement at the end of
this month), bringing his successor, Frank Buntin
Two from Northfield, both representing the Northfield Open Space
Committee, one also representing the Northfield Trails Association
Six from Orange, Athol, and Erving, representing the North Quabbin ATV
Association
Eleven from Warwick, including two from the NQATVA and several
interested in bridle paths through the forests.
(Some of these overlap, so the total may not seem to add up.)
Given the radical departure from the interests expressed at the
exploratory meeting last June, I felt we could not follow the published
agenda, but we did make two decisions, first to postpone serious
consideration of incorporation as too previous, and second to meet again
a month hence (4/16) at the same time (7 p.m.) in the Town Hall to
assess the staying power of the group and continue to follow the
previously published agenda (see below) with emphasis on a mutually
acceptable mission statement (which we will need, even if we never
incorporate) and deciding what we will call ourselves. (We can't go on
forever calling ourselves: The Friends of...," and the general feeling
seemed to be that "Friends of Mt. Grace" was not sufficiently
inclusive.)

I was personally disappointed that none of the individuals who have been
most vocal about the Picnic Area in the Gulf was able to be there. 
Perhaps there is no longer an interest in reviving it, and clearly that
is not a thing that can be accomplished in a single year.  Assuming,
however, that people want to make a start on doing so, I am exploring
the idea of a Picnic Area Work Day, perhaps as part of Warwick's Earth
Day activities, with the DCR and Conservation Commission.
Patricia Lemon, convenor