Team Effort Restores Eroded Trails at Knox Family Farm in Stonington
Story and Photos By Susan Hibbard
For several years, the Stonington Town Committee (STC) has been noticing trail erosion at Knox Family Farm (KFF), principally due to a rising and shifting watercourse and table.
Last August, STC members Beth Sullivan, John Swenarton, and Susan Hibbard met with the KFF abutting neighbor steward, Tote Smith, to discuss possible solutions to salvage the trails.
It was determined that two remedies were needed: a 50-foot stone base to stabilize a section of the trail and help filter water that was no longer flowing through the existing culvert, and, in another area near the marsh, a boardwalk to span a washed-out and deteriorated culvert.
STC was able to purchase the stones, and our super steward, Tote, used his equipment to deliver and spread the stones. Then, a boardwalk was constructed by an STC team of John Swenarton, John Clarke, Mark Hibbard, and Tote Smith. The boardwalk is a sturdy build, and should withstand the next 100-year flood!
It was a terrific team effort — all of which was accomplished in just over a week in mid-August…quite impressive!