Gloucester Motif Monday: conservation inspiration. Roger Babson, Sarah Fraser Robbins, Sarah Evans, Philip Weld JR

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 Babson

Reservoir

and Sanctuary

[Eleven hundred and fifty acres]

THIS RESERVOIR, WATERSHED, AND

RESERVATION ARE FOR THE PEOPLE

OF GLOUCESTER, THE LAND HAVING

BEEN GIVEN IN MEMORY OF MY

FATHER AND MY GRANDFATHER WHO

ROAMED OVER THESE ROCKY HILLS–

THEY HAD THE VISION THAT SOME

DAY IT SHOULD BE CONSERVED FOR

THE USES OF THE CITY AND AS

AN INSPIRATION TO ALL LOVERS

OF GOD AND NATURE

-ROGER W BABSON, 1931

There are examples of land preservation, but featuring a watershed in 1931? Isn’t it wonderful! If you haven’t seen it in a while, it’s worth a close look. I believe that it has definitely inspired many in Gloucester. 

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DPW HQ on Poplar

 

THE FIRST CLEAN HARBOR SWIM

1979 Clean Harbor Swim002
1979

 

Thank you to Deborah Cramer and Dan Greenbaum for sharing this memory and finding this Gloucester Daily Times article! This trio’s swim inspired Cape Ann’s Year of the Coast led by MassAudubon the following summer.

Related posts:

8/13/16, race above same day: And they’re back

8/13/16, Celebrate Clean Harbor Swim, and they’re off

8/12/16 Gloucester’s Clean Harbor: H2O No No’s are in the past – some history of the swim

8/10/16 Accclaimed writer, Gloucester resident, and one of the trio that inspired the Clean Harbor Swim Sarah Fraser Robbins excerpt ( the title of her classic book The Sea is All About Us was a nod to Gloucester summer resident TS Eliot’ Four Quartets)

8/6/16 litter 1978 Crackdown at the quarries 

8/4/16 history of the swim and news about 2016 Celebrate the Clean Harbor Swim

RIO WATERS CAN GET BETTER! THANKS TO DOGGED NATURALISTS, WE CAN PUT OUR HEADS UNDER WATER IN GLOUCESTER. REGISTER NOW FOR THE AUGUST 13 CLEAN HARBOR SWIM