About the Project

These resources and this website was created as part of a 2020 Girl Scouts Gold Award Community Service Project, by Jess Lisiecki.

The goal of these resources is to help connect community residents to the town's natural spaces, to protect, preserve, and appreciate.

In Girl Scouts of United States, a Gold Award Project is a solo Community-Service oriented project that works to tackle an issue seen in a scout's community. This Gold Project, entitled "Close to Home" recognizes the under appreciated outdoor resources in Tewksbury Massachusetts. The goal of "Close to Home" is to help make residents aware of these spaces and all that they offer to families, hikers, dog walkers, environmentalists, and other outdoorists who are unaware of how vast the Tewksbury Trails really are.

Along with these resources and website, the second component of "Close to Home" involved constructing and installing a trail entry kiosks. One to mark the Whipple Road entrance of the Chandler Well Fields Trail, found at the intersection of Chandler Street and Whipple Road, two located at Livingston Park, and another at Long Pond.

"Close to Home" is the final culmination of about a decade of scouting experience under Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts Troop 66771, led by Joyce Hamlyn. None of this project would have been possible without the guidance and assistance of Joyce Hamlyn, Stephania Gallo of the Tewksbury Conservation Committee, Bruce Shick of the Tewksbury Open Spaces Committee, Ray Bowden and Robert Boyce for help with construction of Trail Kiosks, and the Tewksbury Town Manager's Office.