Trail dedicated to Mary Flynn

By Kate AbbottPrint Story | Email Story
STOCKBRIDGE— Mary Flynn, retired teacher, civic leader and avid Democrat, has earned a permanent place in Stockbridge’s records. On Sunday, the Laurel Hill Association of Stockbridge formally opened the Mary V. Flynn Trail, a 1.2-mile walk along the old trolley line and the Housatonic River, designed for people of all abilities. Flynn joined in the dedication, to walk the trail herself and give a brief talk. Flynn began her long political career by assisting in Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first presidential campaign. She served as the first woman on the Stockbridge Board of Selectmen. She pointed out at the time that Stockbridge had elected Mohican citizens to its first board, but it took the town nearly 200 years to elect a woman. On Sunday, the town literally put her name on the map. “Mary Flynn is an institution in Stockbridge,” said Patricia Flinn, secretary of the Laurel Hill Association. “She’s a lover of trees and the environment. She worked with the Housatonic Valley Association, and she has been president of the Laurel Hill Association twice and a board member often. She’s a wonderful person, with a great sense of humor.” The association built the trail as part of a celebration of its 150th year, Flinn said. It starts by the Stockbridge tennis courts, near the heads of the Laura’s Tower and Ice Glen trails and runs through an alley of birch and pine trees. The first 2,900 feet run straight and perfectly flat, and the trail ends in a 900-foot loop with a slight grade. Wheelchairs and scooters can manage the packed gravel surface easily, Flinn said, and the association will put in three or more benches soon. Peter Jensen of Open Space Management designed the trail. Old Castlestone Products, formerly Lee Lime, and the Housatonic Railroad donated the labor to move the gravel to the trail site. Old Castlestone loaded the material onto train cars, with the help of Plant Manager Steve Bassler and Plant Superintendent Kevin Burtt. Housatonic Railroad hauled the 90,000-pound loads of gravel to the trail head, under the care of Field Engineer Matthew Boardman and Peter Naventi, plant superintendent of John F. Lane & Son. The association began work on the trail last fall and cleared the way for it before winter, Flinn said. It built three small bridges across culverts and swales and 100 feet of boardwalk across a gully. “From the trail, you can hear the river running,” Flinn said. “I’m lucky. I live right down the street from it. I walk it every day. Twice around the 1.2-mile round trip gives me more than 2 miles.” She said she raked half a mile of the trail over the weekend to prepare for the opening. The wet weather slowed construction slightly, she said, and the railroad had a washout last week, holding up the last shipment of gravel. But the trail is now open and ready for walkers. About 87 percent of the Mary Flynn Trail runs through association property, Flinn said. The rest lies on the town’s Ice Glen land. The Laurel Hill Association maintains five trails and 387 acres in Stockbridge. Its members tend plantings around town monuments and memorials, plant trees, conserve open space and raise funds for college and high school scholarships. It is the oldest Village Improvement Society in the country. Besides the Flynn Train, the association maintains the trail across Laurel Hill, past the Laurel Hill Rostrum— a vast outcropping of stone— and a hiking trail through Lower Bowker’s Woods, off Glendale Road, looking over an oxbow of the river to the Norman Rockwell property. The association also cares for Ice Glen Trail and Laura’s Tower Trail, which Jensen and Open Space Management have recently improved. “They rerouted the steep and rutted places. They do a beautiful job— they improve it but you don’t notice, they do everything so naturally,” Flinn said. “The climb to Laura’s Tower is a lot like the climb up Monument Mountain. On a clear day, you can see into the Catskills and up to Vermont. You can look out over October Mountain and the Stockbridge Range.”
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Steel Rail Races Return Sunday, Route 8 Motorists Use Caution

Community submission
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Drivers traveling along Route 8 in Cheshire and Adams should expect delays, lane restrictions, and intermittent closures on Sunday, May 17, due to the MountainOne Steel Rail Races.
 
Local police, race officials, and DPW teams will be coordinating traffic control throughout the morning to ensure runner and driver safety.
 

Race Day Traffic Impacts

• Route 8 Delays — Expect slowed traffic and periodic holds between 6:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. especially near trail access points and designated crossing zones.
 
• Cheshire Center Impacts — Increased pedestrian activity and police?directed traffic near Church St., Farnams Rd., and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail entrance.
 
• Adams Travel Restrictions — North Adams line through downtown Adams will see rolling closures as runners pass key intersections.
 
• Rail Trail Crossings — Motorists should use caution at all Ashuwillticook Rail Trail crossings; officers will be stationed at high?traffic points.
 

Timing & Areas of Highest Impact

6:30 to 9 a.m.
Marathon and Half Marathon staging creates congestion near Cheshire Elementary School and Rt. 8 trail access.
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