BY ZACHARY GREENLedger-Transcript

WILTON — What startedas a job for Swift Corwin,forester of Peterborough,quickly became a communi-ty movement to protect whatwe today call the SheldrickForest, a 227-acre preserveestablished on Old TownFarm Road in 1996.

The 15th anniversary ofthat legacy will be celebrat-ed on Saturday, with a dayfull of events including guid-ed hikes and a picnic.

In the 19th century, thefarmland was owned by theSheldrick family, originallyof Temple. The family attor-ney in Connecticut, who wasleft with the rights to theproperty, sold it to develop-ers. Corwin was initially con-tracted by the developers tosurvey the land for timberbut the majesty of the forestbecame apparent.

“As we were going, we no-ticed it was more and morespecial,” he said in an inter-view with the Ledger-Tran-script. “It became harder tokeep going with the job. Isaid ‘Let’s see if someonecan protect this.’”

Shortly thereafter the Na-ture Conservancy Chapter(TNC) of New Hampshire,now heading into its 50thyear, was ready to put upsome money, but the$130,000 offered was farshort of the $550,000 needed.

The fundraising effortsinspired the community ofWilton and then some. Stu-dents and community mem-bers alike sold paintings,held bake sales and con-certs. Judie Marble, neigh-bor to the preserve, recalleda particularly creative effortat the private school whereshe worked.

To protest a dress code,the students petitioned tohave a dress-down day witheach participant contribut-ing 25 cents to the preserve.

“Nickels and dimes

bought that forest,” saidMarble.

The creation of the re-serve was a great example ofpeople working together to-ward a common goal, un-daunted by obstacles.

“It’s a great place to seeand feel the results of a placepreserved in perpetuity 15years ago by the magicalconvergence of a heart-warming array of acts of hu-man generosity,” said KristaHelmboldt, Easement Stew-ardship Specialist for thestate’s TNC chapter.

The landscape, accordingto Corwin, contains an as-tonishing abundance of gi-gantic trees, some estimat-ed to be 250 years old. It pro-vides habitat for 30 differenttree species within a 100-footradius. Sheldrick is a cross-roads of “geologic history,natural history, and humanhistory,” said Helmboldt.

What Corwin first saw in1994 has become part of a

compelling conservationstory.

“It came at a pivotal pointin the history of TNC’s N.H.Chapter,” said Helmboldt.“This project provided uswith the opportunity to pro-tect the land that had cap-tured the hearts and mindsof so many people.

It fueled our nascentchapter into the next stageof growth.

Ninety percent of the landwe have protected in ourchapter’s history occurredafter this magical and spe-cial project.”

Prior to Sheldrick, thestate conservancy held only4,883 acres. Today it holdsthe easements to 30 pre-serves with more than 25,000acres.

Marble was close to theSheldrick children. She re-members temporarily“adopting” one of the daugh-ters as her grandmother. “Iknew the Sheldricks and was

very fond of them. Thethought of having their prop-erty directly across from myhome turned into a housingdevelopment or a gravel pitwas not something I couldhandle emotionally.”

More than 100 donorshave made Sheldrick a placeworth celebrating.

Saturday’s event starts at10 a.m., with Corwin leadinga guided hike. Guests shouldplan to bring a picnic blanketand lunch.

Dessert and beverageswill be provided. Reserva-tions are suggested by con-tacting Megan Lepage via e-mail at mlepage@tnc.org orby phone at 224-5853, ext. 33.

“So much land is man-aged around here,” said Cor-win.

“If people use the land,there is a reason to have itother than for houses. Youcan walk those trails withbare feet. You can read thehistory of it on the ground.”

Thursday, June 23, 2011 MONADNOCK LEDGER-TRANSCRIPT PAGE 3

WILTON

COURTESY PHOTO BY ERIC ALDRICH

Giant white pines, some of which are estimated to be 250 years old, rise in SheldrickForest, a preserve that will be the focus of a 15-year anniversary celebration on Saturday.

Preservation inspires a town

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15th anniversary of Sheldrick Forest a cause for celebration

JAFFREY-RINDGE SCHOOL DISTRICT

Grade school toget $140,000in renovationsMoving library to first floor is key

BY ALYSSA DANDREAMonadnock Ledger-Transcript

JAFFREY — The SchoolBoard voted unanimously onTuesday night to support therenovation of the JaffreyGrade School library, whichwas deemed in violation ofstate fire code in March 2010,and therefore inaccessible tokindergartners and first-graders.

The library, now located onthe second floor of the school,does not provide youngergrades with a dedicated firetower as mandated in thestate code. A stairwell wouldhave cost the school districtjust as much as a library reno-vation, according to DistrictSuperintendent JamesO’Neill. The School Boardvoted to allocate up to$140,000 from its capital re-serve and awarded HutterConstruction with the reno-vation.

“I think it’s very importantfor the grade school becauseit is going to take some of ourolder, somewhat challengingclassrooms and convert theminto a brand new library areaon the first floor. We’ll also beadding a technology room ad-jacent to the library,” O’Neillsaid.

Moving the library to thefirst floor will centralize allcore functions of the gradeschool. Additionally, by beingclose to one of the building’smain entrances there may bemore opportunity for commu-nity use of the space, particu-larly during the summermonths, he said. The library’scurrent location on the sec-ond floor will be converted in-to two classrooms.

“I want to express my ap-preciation to the board forsupporting this project,” saidJGS Principal Susan Shaw-Sarles at Tuesday’s meeting.Shaw-Sarles thanked theSchool Board for their fullsupport and for pulling the

plans together so quickly. The renovation is expected

to begin as quickly as possibleonce students leave for thesummer, said O’Neill. TheSchool Board anticipates thatthe project will be near com-plete when students return atthe end of August. The cost ofthe library is $127,640 with anadditional cost of $6,000 allo-cated for technology equip-ment in the adjacent mediacenter. The School Board vot-ed unanimously to add a fivepercent contingency depositto the total project cost to en-sure enough funds.

Shaw-Sarles and Chair-man Tom Connolly said theproject is vital to JGS in that itwill allow a third of its stu-dents, who have over the pastyear not been able to use thelibrary, equal access to its re-sources.

Currently, the only accessthat kindergarteners andfirst graders have to the li-brary is by a cart, which li-brarians use to bring booksand music to the students.

Earlier in the meeting, theSchool Board discussed anumber of other agendaitems, including the superin-tendent’s contract.

In reflecting on the currentissues confronted by the dis-trict, Connolly said it was hispleasure to bring to theSchool Board for considera-tion the extension of O’Neill’scontract.

In difficult economic times,Connolly noted the impor-tance of sustained leadershipand all of the work that O’Neillhas done over the past 11years.

Without deliberation, theSchool Board voted unani-mously to extend O’Neill’scontract from June 30, 2012 toJune 30, 2014.

O’Neill said he felt privi-leged to be able to serve thecommunity and expressedhis appreciation to the SchoolBoard for its confidence.