February 26, 2009: Assabet River NWR Trail Naming Contest
Sponsored by The Friends of the Assabet River NWR

The Friends of the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge congratulate the winners of our recent Trail Naming Contest. We thank all of the people who entered the contest and we are very grateful to all of the companies and individuals who donated prizes for our contest.

The Friends of the Assabet NWR sponsored the Trail Naming Contest for the Assabet River NWR between June 1st and November 1st. Many of the trails in the refuge, which have their origin in the recent Military ownership of the property, were simply named X, Y Z etc. The land was transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service in 2000, and the refuge was opened to the public a few years later. As an ongoing improvement of the refuge, the trails needed more “user friendly” names.

We hope that everyone enjoyed visiting the refuge and walking the trails. We received 128 names and had a very hard time making the top choices. We believe visitor to the refuge will be pleased with the new names and will take the opportunity to spend some time on the refuge, exploring all of them.

Janet Dunbar was our grand prize winner for naming the longest of our trails: “Tri-Town Trail”. She received a pair of snowshoes donated by the Maynard Outdoor Store and a photo from local photographer Marijke Holtrop.

Arthur Skura received a set of binoculars from Wild Birds Unlimited of Sudbury and a $25 gift certificate from Erikson Grain Mill of Acton for his suggestion of “Winterberry Way”.

Cecilia Mikalac received a three day kayak rental from Eastern Mountain Sports and the Concord, Sudbury, and Assabet Rivers guide book by Ron McAdow. She named three different trails: “Mink Link”, “Otter Alley” and “Fisher Loop Trail”.

Jane Lothian suggested “Kingfisher Trail” and received a pair of binoculars from Wild Birds Unlimited of Sudbury.

Eric Lind received a pair of binoculars from Wild Birds Unlimited of Sudbury for his choice of “Puffer Pond Trail”.

Mark Mayall suggested “Petapawag Trail”, a Native American term for swampy land. He received a $50 gift certificate from Russell Garden Center of Wayland.

Trey Fuccillo, our youngest winner at six years old, received a $15 gift certificate from Brines Sporting Goods in Sudbury. We really liked his choice of “Tebassa Trail” which is Assabet spelled backwards!

Arthur Carbary receives a photo of Puffer Pond from photographer David Griffin and the Maynard Post Card book from Paul Boothroyd for his suggestions of the “Sandbank Trail” and “Carbary Trail”. Arthur is a member of one of the many families who use to live on the Refuge lands.

Maynard Girl Scout Troop 2588 came up with the “Pine Garden Trail” and received an Audubon Field Guide donated by Peter Alden. They will also join the Friends Tracking Team on a trip around the refuge.

We were pleased to have several applications from contestants less than 12 years. These children were recognized and awarded prizes for participating by Friends members Paul Boothroyd and Marijke Holtrop at the Monthly Meeting on November 17th at the US Fish and Wildlife Regional Office at Weir Hill.

Each child received a TR Bear, dressed as Teddy Roosevelt provided by the Fish and Wildlife Service. They also received signed copies of Peter Alden’s Audubon Field Guide to New England and other Audubon guides. The Girl Scout troop from Maynard who participated was presented with a wildlife tracking experience. The Assabet Keeping Track team will take them on their next tracking expedition.