"Nature's Fireworks"
Wild Sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)
Spotted at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, West Hill Dam, Uxbridge, MA
Photo: Bonnie Combs
In This Issue

We hope you enjoy this month's newsletter and that you stay connected with us on social media.
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  • Blackstone River Valley Self-Guided Paddle Resource Guide
  • New Pollinator Garden at Kelly House Museum
  • Blackstone Valley on Chronicle, Monday, July 6
  • Field Trip Fridays: Moffett Mill
  • Coming July 10: Virtual Field Trip to the Looff Carousel
  • A Message from Suzanne: Volunteers-In-Parks
  • Become a Gearhead Junior Ranger
Happy 4th of July!
Fireworks at Cogswell Tower Central Falls
Photo by Brett Henrickson, featured in the 2015 Blackstone Heritage Corridor Calendar

The official symbol of Central Falls, Cogswell Tower stands on top of Dexter’s Ledge in Jenks Park, which was used as an Indian lookout during King Phillip’s War (1675 – 1676). It was designed by Pawtucket architect Albert H. Humes and built in 1904. Find it at 580 Broad Street, Central Falls, Rhode Island.

Fourth of July celebrations will look much different this year in the Blackstone Valley. As for parades, Glocester's famous Ancients & Horribles Parade has come up with an alternative and the Arnold Mills Parade will go on as a "wave parade" and motorcade. The City of Worcester is hosting a virtual July 4th celebration.

New! Blackstone River Valley Paddle Resource Guide
Looking for places to go paddling this summer in the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor? Check out our new self-guided paddling resource guide brought to you in partnership with the volunteers of the Blackstone Valley Paddle Club.

With the suspension of the Volunteers-In-Parks program this summer due to COVID-19, the Blackstone Valley Paddle Club will not be hosting their weekly guided paddles. Instead, volunteers are gathering information from paddle locations all over the National Heritage Corridor to create a library of self-guided paddles on the Blackstone Heritage Corridor website. This will be updated throughout the summer so be sure to check back often.

Be sure to always wear a personal flotation device (PFD) and check weather conditions and water levels before heading out on the water. Click here for more paddling safety tips.
New Pollinator Garden at the
Capt. Wilbur Kelly House Transportation Museum, Lincoln, RI
Next time you're on the Blackstone River Bikeway or the Canal Towpath by the Capt. Wilbur Kelly House Transportation Museum at Blackstone River State Park (1075 Lower River Road) in Lincoln, RI, you'll notice a stunning new pollinator garden next to the museum!

Thank you to the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society (RIWPS) for responding to a Valley Breeze article about the new pollinator garden that was started last summer by rangers of Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park. The garden's honeycomb shape and initial plant list featuring native plants was designed by Ranger Tyler Shepard. Due to COVID-19, his return this spring was delayed. Weeds were moving in and spring planting time was running out. In an effort to find some plants for the new garden, the news article was a miracle as Linda McDaniel from the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society responded. She came to visit with fellow member Sherry Dzamba and they toured the weed-filled garden and took measurements. Within days RIWPS offered to sponsor the garden by donating all of the plants and bringing members to plant them! It all came together on Friday, June 26 during Pollinator Week!

Additional thanks goes to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management for their support in the creation of the pollinator garden and for their help with watering to ensure the plants survive their transition to their new home at Blackstone River State Park!

Stay tuned for the next phase: education about native plants and native pollinators and how they work together to create biodiversity!
Thank to you members of the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society for volunteering to plant the garden during Pollinator Week: Linda McDaniel, Sherry Dzamba, Peggy Buttenbaum, Mary Jane Verdier, George Cunha, and Sue Theriault. Thanks to additional planting volunteer Charlotte Chase-Fortes.
Tour the Pollinator Gardens at West Hill Dam
In celebration of Pollinator Week, we visited with Ranger Ron Woodall of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, West Hill Dam in Uxbridge, MA, for a tour of the pollinator gardens he has been working on there.

You can visit the property at 518 East Hartford Avenue, Uxbridge, MA. Be sure to follow social distancing guidelines, and please, Leave No Trace.
Tune into Chronicle on Monday, July 6 at 7:30 p.m.
We shared the news last month that Chronicle came to the Blackstone Gorge back in May to film a segment called "Massachusetts Natural Wonders." Producers interviewed BHC volunteers Marjorie Turner Hollman and Tom Bik. Marjorie is a volunteer with BHC's Trail Ambassadors and Bikeway Ambassadors, and is also author of Easy Walks in Massachusetts and several other walking books. Tom Bik is a volunteer with BHC's Trail Ambassadors and serves on the Metacomet Land Trust board of directors.

Tune in Monday, July 6 at 7:30 p.m. on WCVB Channel 5. The show is also streamed live on it its website . If you miss it, the segment will be posted to Chronicle's website and also on its YouTube page  after it is aired.
Field Trip Fridays: Moffett Mill

We continue our Field Trip Fridays virtual field trip series with a visit to Moffett Mill, part of the Great Road Heritage Campus at Chase Farm Park in Lincoln, RI.

Thank you to Blackstone Heritage Corridor Photography Ambassadors Carol Dandrade and Silvana Della Camera for the photographs and thank you to Kathy Hartley at the Hearthside House Museum.
Coming July 10: Virtual Field Trip to the Looff Carousel
In celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the Looff Carousel at Slater Memorial Park in Pawtucket, RI, Suzanne Buchanan (pictured right), volunteer coordinator at Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, is working on a special "Field Trip Fridays" virtual visit to the Looff Carousel. It will be released on Friday, July 10 in celebration of the carousel's anniversary on July 11.

She is pictured here with the same carousel figure that she stood next to with her dad in one of Ranger Chuck Arning's "Along the Blackstone" videos 25 years ago. That clip happened in be in one of just two episodes that did not make it to YouTube, and thanks to our friends at the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, Suzanne was able to track it down and it will be included in the virtual field trip she is working on. Ironically, the name of missing segment is "Something Lost, Something Found."
The video will also highlight the important work that Donna Houle (pictured left), president of the nonprofit Friends of Looff Carousel at Slater Park, has been doing to preserve this important historic treasure in the Blackstone Valley.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel and you will get a notification when the video is released! We will be sure to share it in our next newsletter and also on Facebook.
A Message from Suzanne: Volunteers-In-Parks
“The past four months have seen the realization of all the amazing volunteer programs, Skills Workshops, Adaptive Cycling, Birding the Blackstone, 20 th Anniversary of the Paddle Club, hikes, cleanups, and so much more scheduled for spring and summer 2020 canceled. 

The Volunteers-In-Parks program has been greatly impacted. We truly miss our volunteers and being engaged in the communities of the Corridor. Many unanswered questions will need to be answered before we can begin to offer VIP’s the opportunities to volunteer and offer public attendance. 

At this time, any volunteering under the VIP/BHC program will need prior approval. Several VIP’s have volunteered independently to research paddles for the Paddling Resource Guide. Thank you Blackstone Valley Paddle Club volunteers. The BHC Photography Ambassadors have volunteered not only behind the camera lens but behind the scenes helping to update BHC’s and Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park’s image bank. A few local historical cemeteries have been given a spring cleaning and photographed. Many thanks to all who have supported “Corridor Chats” by being contributing storytellers! Continue to make our day by “checking-in.”

As we await guidance from many entities, in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the National Park Service VIP program, and all 25 towns within the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, we extend our sincere appreciation to our volunteers. We wish them the best of health. The VIP program will continue to make a difference. It WILL take time. We WILL figure this out. Imagine the possibilities!”

YouTube - Blackstone Heritage Corridor
Stay Connected with Us on YouTube!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and you will receive notifications when we release new videos.

Please share ideas for content that you wish to see. Send them to bcombs@BlackstoneHeritageCorridor.org .
YouTube - Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park
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Did you know that Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park also has a YouTube channel and posts "Ranger Chat" videos on Tuesdays and "Throwback Thursday" videos on Thursdays?

Subscribe to their channel and stay connected to the people, the culture, the history, and the stories that make the Blackstone River Valley a national treasure.
Go Take a Picture for the 2021 Calendar Photo Contest!
During this "down time" through COVID-19, consider going through your photos looking for "Historical Landmarks & Artifacts" in the Blackstone River Valley for the Blackstone Heritage Corridor Calendar Photo Contest.

Explore our website for ideas of places to visit to capture new photos. See link below for details and submit them electronically.

Got questions? Reach out to Bonnie at BCombs@BlackstoneHeritageCorridor.org.
Become a Gearhead Junior Ranger
Explore, Discover, Protect, and GO!
Junior Rangers in the Blackstone River Valley are called GearHeads.

GearHead (n.): a kid, powered by the Gears in their brain; who explores nature, discovers history, protects the environment, and goes on adventures through the Blackstone River Valley.

Click through the GearHeads website and claim your Junior Ranger status today! Submit a completed activity and we'll send you a Junior Ranger badge!
From all of us at BHC, we wish you well and look forward to seeing you soon!