Page 395 - BOXFORD

BTA/BOLT, INC. ANNUAL REPORT
(for the year 2015)

BTA/BOLT, Inc. produced our annual BTA/BOLT Dressage & Horse Show event in July.
The Horse Show raises monies to help with BTA/BOLT’s trail maintenance program. The
competitors, trainers, and parents always compliment the show’s organizers for running an
enjoyable event where everyone has fun competing in dressage, pleasure classes, trails
classes, games, and jumping classes.

The Boxford Fire Department once again hosted our Dog Show. It was well attended and
we hope to improve it every year. Our Annual Great Pumpkin Hunt on the Cargill field was
as popular as ever, with great assistance from Pete and Chris Delaney and Lou Athanos,
who manned the tractor and wagon for hay rides.

We also hosted a wonderful speaker who taught us and entertained us with wildlife
adventures and stories about caterpillars, as well as bringing these amazing creatures with
him to show us.

BTA/BOLT, Inc. continues to financially support nature education to take place on Boxford open
spaces with the participation of Mass. Audubon and our Elementary Schools. We also grant a
conservation scholarship to a MASCO senior who has interests in conservation and ecology.

Every fall, winter and spring, BTA/BOLT sponsors a Tuesday morning scheduled
walk/hike or snow shoe/cross country ski. This year, as in many past years, these walks
have been scheduled and led by Steve Davis. We have a large, active group of volunteers
who are helping to keep our trails accessible.

Since deer ticks wait on the undergrowth along the trails for a warm blooded creature
(humans included) to pass by, it is imperative that the Boxford trails are cleared wider than
previously and we are endeavoring to gradually widen all the trails.

Eagle Scouts have earned their Eagle Awards building and improving trails and
boardwalks, as well as building boardwalks over wetlands and installing trail markers on
the many trails in Boxford. The town owes these young people a vote of thanks!
BTA/BOLT has re-built one of our important bridges in the Boxford Village area and
hopes to do more of this sort of work in the future. We are actively involved as a
participant and support group for the rails to trails endeavor and with the Bay Circuit
Alliance trails network.

The BTA/BOLT, Inc. website, www.btabolt.org, has broadened its scope. We have
updated its offerings and are working to make it more interesting and user friendly all the
time. Check it out. We are also able now to reach all of you who have given us your emails
with a mini-newsletter announcing various activities. Modernizing!

Thank you to all our members and volunteers who help make all this possible!

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