Happy Trails!
Under a bright blue sky and with a wind roaring into the open meadow, more than 75 MCC administrators, faculty and students gathered with their community partners on Thursday to officially open the MCC Fitness Trail!
Located behind the Trustees Building on the Bedford campus, the trail has been waiting for decades to be unearthed, something that occurred over the past year, with some help from the MCC Day of Service.
The trail consists of two loops - one of them is a 3/4 mile loop that encircles a small frog pond, located behind the North Academic Building. The other is a 1.25 mile loop that winds out to Orchard Road, runs across the meadow, behind the Farmhouse, and comes out across from the Cataldo Administration Building.
The trail was supported by an MCC Foundation grant through the Annual Fund, and is another terrific project out of the Student Activities Division. It's really been Athletic Guru Jonathan Crockett's baby since its inception, but a number of other MCC personnel have stepped in to help make the trail a reality, in particular the Facilities staff who helped clear the trail and also install the 10 fitness stations throughout the trail.
For a structured workout, the 10 station Fit Trail combines a series of scientifically designed exercises which when combined with walking or jogging can provide a well-balanced physical fitness routine for the entire body.
As most folks know, the 200+ acre MCC Bedford campus was once home to a Marist Seminary, which opened in the fall of 1926, offering educational programs and training for the Catholic priesthood. One priest had a particular interest in the woods and the nearby pond and took it upon himself to cultivate those areas. The priest, a teacher of Greek and Latin, dredged the pond and landscaped the woods.
“When the roots of academia first found footing on this piece of land, a nature-loving priest discovered a remarkable woods. It was a woods that offered spiritual retreat, recreation, and tranquility for the boys and Fathers of the Marist Seminary,” Crockett said during the open ceremony. “The Marist Community has long since disappeared, replaced by the MCC that we know today. And for years, these trails have been all but lost and forgotten quietly and secretly enjoying the passing of seasons. Until today.”
While the trails have been there for decades, most MCC folks, not to mention the college's neighbors in Bedford and Billerica had rarely ventured out onto the trails. As of yesterday, even MCC President Carole Cowan, who has been at the college for more than 30 years, hadn't explored the trails.
Everything changed when the ribbon was cut to officially open the trails and dozens of people started their woodland exploration treks.
Crockett said he hopes the trails will also serve as a recreational resource for hikers, runners, skiiers, snowshoers, and anyone interest in bird or wildlife watching.
Crockett said the network of trails is “not simply a path through the woods, it’s a rich and complex part of the history of this land. It’s a connection, literally and symbolically, to Bedford, Billerica, and many towns and cities beyond.”
Just as significantly, the MCC series of trails is now expected to link with the Bay Circuit Trail, a series of over 200 miles of trails that stretches across the state of Massachusetts, from Duxbury to Plum Island.
Art Smith, chair of the Bedford Trails Committee joined the MCC team at the event.
“This place on this planet is filled with memories for me,” said Smith, who grew up in Bedford. He recalled the genesis of the tract of wooded land. “Out in these woods was a strange and somewhat forbidding place called the Marist Seminary. That it became MCC has lifted the veil and produced one of the more outstanding assets
of our community.”
The MCC Foundation has created a program to help maintain and sustain the trails. Anyone interested in helping to support the Fitness Trail Preservation Fund can call the MCC Foundation at 781-280-3522.