Laconia Rotary takes ‘Walk’ on the wild side

GILFORD – If you don’t count “mud” as its own season, Granite Staters acknowledge four seasons like the rest of the country, but Jan Hooper coined an addition to summer, fall, winter and spring this past weekend.

“I call it spring awakening,” said the woman who has fostered much of the awareness of a little known, but long appreciated location on the edge of Gunstock Park.

The words “hidden gem” can describe many things and this past weekend a large group of area residents gathered to spruce up a place that many think fits that description: the Wetlands Walk at Gunstock.

The Wetlands Walk is a quarter mile of boardwalk that loops through a forest of pines, hemlock and birch, and is part of Poor Farm Brook.

In response to a planned event held by the Laconia Rotary Club and the Belknap County Conservation District, an army of volunteers from across the Lakes Region came equipped with a variety of garden and foresting implements, and attended to a number of projects. Some cleaned and trimmed from the winter’s effects, while others replaced and built birdhouses, blazed trails, created habitats for rabbits, planted asters and Shasta daisies and engaged in general beautification.

“We’ve got our mojo working,” quipped Mo Drouin of Meredith as he and Gilford’s Jo Clark acknowledged the famous Muddy Watters tune.  They were part of the large gathering sprucing up and rehabbing the location early Saturday morning.

Clark has been active in event for years. “I grew up here in Gilford,” she said, “and think of this time of year as one of five seasons. I love this place, and want everybody to as well,” said the longtime member of the Gilford Conservation Commission.

A group of volunteer landscape professionals answered the Rotary call and worked in the woods like a synchronized team while breaking ground for the concrete footing for a new bike rack.

Several of the projects were ecology oriented. The birdhouses were refurbished and replaced. The houses were designed as habitat for bluebirds, which eat as many as 2,000 mosquitoes a day, providing obvious benefits for people.

Gary and Liza Maheu were joined by daughter Mayah, a 12-year-old Laconia Middle School student who said she enjoyed her day and liked that the event “gets people outside working and walking.”

Laconia marketing professional Debbie Bolduc said she is fond of taking part in events like the cleanup. “Being outdoors is my church, and today is very positive for the community.”

“This is a wonderful and enthusiastic group of people,” said Jan Hooper of the 50-plus volunteers. She was Wetlands Walk coordinator for the BCCD for years, and is now a very knowledgeable volunteer. “I see caring people of all ages and walks of life,” said Hooper, observing volunteers from 8 to 80.

Randell Holt, 8, said he saw the value of the Wetland Walk. “I would recommend this for children,” said the Laconia Christian Academy third-grader.

Kevin Conway, president of the sponsoring Laconia Rotary, said he was pleased with the event and looked forward to a continuing relationship with the Wetlands Walk.

The board structure of the Wetlands Walk has stood up well throughout the years, Hooper said, and has been a boon over the years for people with mobility issues. She said her grandmother used a similar walkway when she was in her 90s, and “she loved getting back into the great outdoors.”

The effort has another, less evident benefit: It will count for 94.65 hours toward a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Forest and Rivers Fund.

A former elementary school science teacher, Hooper quoted Miguel Cervantes, author of the book “Don Quixote,” who wrote that “We have to take care of our surroundings, or what will become of us?”