Please contact the Walks Coordinator if you have any questions.
Before the Event
Walk your route in advance. Look for poison ivy. Note any areas that less-capable walkers (e.g, children in strollers, someone using a cane) might find difficult. Consider whether there is an alternate route that would accommodate everyone. Record how long you expect the walk to take.
Be sure that your route doesn’t require walkers to violate no-trespassing restrictions on private or public property. The only exception is that the MWRA has stopped enforcing the no trespassing rules on the Sudbury Aqueduct, although a few “No Trespassing” signs remain.
Be sure that the route doesn’t expose walkers to other unreasonable risks, such as walking along a busy road without an adequate sidewalk, crossing a busy road without a traffic signal, or walking on or across MBTA commuter rail tracks or rights of way. Every year, people die while walking along or trying to cross MBTA tracks. The one exception is the legal crossing of the Green Line tracks between Houghton Garden and Hammond Pond.
Study the history of the area on the park’s page on our website. Take notes and bring them along with you.
Make a map showing your route and print a few copies to bring along. Gmap Pedometer is easy to use to create a map, but printing can be tricky. The best approach may be to use the Windows “snipping tool” or other screen capture software to copy the image of the map, and then paste it into a Word document for printing.
Or you could just print the Conservators trail map and highlight your route with a marker. Printable maps can be found on the property pages of this website.
Dealing with Schedule Changes
Consider listing a rain date in the description of the event.
If you decide to cancel or reschedule an event due to rain or other changed circumstances, tell the Walks Coordinator as soon as possible, so we can put a notice of the change on the website’s event listing. If the event will be rescheduled, tell the Walks Coordinator the new time and date.
Suggested Materials to Bring Along
Walk Sign-In Form
Excel file (feel free to customize)
PDF file (easy to print)
Membership Application Form
Conservators Brochures or Palm Cards
Handing these out is entirely optional. If you’d like copies, contact the Walks Coordinator.
A camera
A copy of the Trail Guide
Your cell phone
Water
At the Event
- Introduce yourself and tell a little about your role in the Conservators.
- Ask people to sign in
- Hand out brochures or palm cards.
- Mention any difficult areas to be covered in the walk. Tell how long you expect the walk to take.
- Ask someone to take photos and send them to you afterwards. Or take them yourself.
- Invite participants who know about what you’re seeing to tell you and the group about it along the way.
- Ask someone to be the “sweeper,” who will make sure no one falls behind and gets separated from the group. Modify the pace as needed to make the walk comfortable for everyone.
- Stop from time to time to show people where you are on the map.
After the Event
- Send people a thank-you email, inviting them to join the Conservators. Include a link to the membership page of the website: https://newtonconservators.org/membership/
- Send a list of their email addresses to our E-Bulletin editor: ebulletin@newtonconservators.org
- Send photos to the Newsletter editor: newsletter@newtonconservators.org
Other Materials for Event Organizers
General Sign-In Form for Events Other Than Walks
Word file (feel free to customize)
PDF file (easy to print)
