SOUTHWICK – The Conserve North Pond project has had its plan in place for months. It was only a matter of time when the project was going to take a big leap forward; the month of August has been that time.
On August 6, The Conserve North Pond headquarters on 491 College Hwy, had its official grand opening. The official opening allowed interested citizens to check out the history of North Pond, sign up for land or floating tours of the pond, as well as having the option to make a donation.
One of the several Conserve North Pond contributors, John Whalley, has been quite eager to start seeing donations being made.
Whalley has changed his matching donors and donations plan. The goal is still to have 20 businesses or private donators who will donate, but instead of the donation being $50,000 each, it is now $5,000 each.
“Once we hit $100,000, we’re going to approach each of the 20 (businesses) and say, “Do you want to continue for another five (thousand)?””
The new plan has so far proved to be taking The Conserve North Pond project in the right direction. There are currently four businesses or individuals who have become matching sponsors, including The Southwick Inn, Gristville Motors, Whalley Computer, and Ralph Depalma. Another $5,000 has been preserved towards the project from a private donator.
From left to right: Bill Asselin, John Whalley, Dennis Clark, Mary Lynn Sabourin, Seth Kellogg, and Rosemary Arnold have all contributed with the Conserve North Pond project. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
Supporters of North Pond are still looking for any amount of donation that a business or people in the community can make.
With the matching sponsors being represented, the full page advertisement will continue to show platinum, gold, silver, and bronze donators. A platinum sponsor will be recognized for anyone that donates $1,000 or more, gold is $500 or more, silver is $250 or more, and bronze rounds things out with a $100 donation or more.
Franklin Land Trust, out of Shelbourne Falls, has continued to assist the North Pond supporters with the fundraising aspect. Franklin Land Trust Development Director Mary Lynn Sabourin has helped with the donations this month as well as writing letters to private funders.
Sabourin is helping in any way she can to make sure the project continues to make progress.
“The Franklin Land Trust’s goal is to do this project within the year,” said Sabourin.
With Whalley handling how the fundraising works, there have been a number of contributors from the start. Winding River Conservancy, from Westfield, has partnered up with Franklin Land Trust to contribute with sending out fundraising letters. Members include President Rosemary Arnold, Treasurer Seth Kellogg, and Mary Martin.
Dennis Clark, a Town of Southwick employee who is the Chairman of the Community Preservation Committee and a part of the Conservation Commission, has also been committed to the project.
Along with fundraising, Franklin Land Trust has created a page on their website dedicated to the project, called Save North Pond.
The website offers a variety of different aspects to the project for site visitors to check out. A 30-second television commercial from Comcast is currently running throughout the Southwick area and will run up to at least 100 times.
Photos, a video of the history of North Pond, as well as a number of other options are available on the website.
Quite possibly the most important part to the website is the fact that people and businesses can also donate on the website by using the link franklinlandtrust.org.
The dedication from people in the community has been evident all summer, but the start of donations beginning to flow into the project has really made the goal of preserving the North Pond land a clear reality.
“It’s real, it’s happening,” said Sabourin. “We’re out here, we’re working towards making this go forward.”
