Remembering the Marines who built a camp facility

'New Den for Camp Lion To Be Built by Marines'

The Daily Item, Lynn, Oct. 8, 1959, p. 15  
In this article, the Marines donate time and resources in building a facility for the camp.  Continuing in the article, is a series of listing donors who contributed to the Lynn Lions fund for Camp Lion, in order to help rebuild the facilities and 'help preserve the camps and wild woodland forever'.  (Click to view article.)  

Other links regarding contributions to build facilities and preserve Camp Lion: 

http://lynnlions.blogspot.com/2011/05/drive-for-camp-funds-opened-by-lynn.html

http://lynnlions.blogspot.com/2011/05/lions-assure-public.html

http://lynnlions.blogspot.com/2011/05/lynn-lions-club-fund-drive.html

Camp Lion's Mission Statement

Mission Statement
Official name: Camp Lion of Lynn, Mass., Inc.

The Purpose for which the corporation is formed are as follows:

To sponsor and carry on activities for the social, physical and mental betterment of young people; to own and maintain a properly supervised camp or camps dedicated to the better development and usefulness of such young people; to maintain a tract or tracts of wild woodland for the purpose of providing ample opportunity for recreation in the open air; to provide suitable surroundings for a camp; to prevent too near proximity of buildings and uses which might be deleterious to the camp; to buy, acquire, lease, mortgage, encumber, sell and convey real and personal property; and to carry on in connection with the above purpose of the corporation, provided that this corporation shall operate and function exclusively as a charitable corporation. And no profit shall be distributed among its members.

Reference:  Camp Lion Website, Mission Statement, link http://camp-lion.org/?page_id=22


About us page is written very beautiful, concerning the trails and adventures through these woods.  Link:  http://camp-lion.org/?page_id=20

Thank you to a friend for sharing this information.

Rare and interesting discoveries

On a walk this weekend with Leslie and Julia, we came across rare and other interesting finds.  Julia discovered cottonwood trees, which is common in the south, and a rare formation of two trees joined at the trunk.  We discovered Pink and White Lady's Slippers, other interesting flora, and another interesting stone.

This interesting stone slab is in the shape of a perfect arrow, standing upright.

Pink Lady's Slipper

White Lady's Slipper

Two different tree species, joined at the trunk.

 

Cottonwood covered the ground like snow.

Cottonwood

Cottonwood hanging strings.

Apple or Cherry Blossom

Interesting flora

Raspberry bush.

Camp Lion declares to maintain wild woodland

The 'Lynn Lions (Camp Lion) Story' shares many important facts.  In one of these facts, the Articles of Organization for Camp Lion of Lynn, Mass, Inc., a non-profit organization, registered with The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, states:

• "to maintain a tract or tracts of wild woodland for the purpose of providing ample opportunity for recreation in the open air;"

To view front page of document, click on image to the right, or visit The Commonwealth of Massachusetts (here), to view all documents for Camp Lion.


According to a state map source OLIVER, Camp Lion is mapped as a Non-profit Open Space, under Conservation/ Recreation layer.  


However, in current day, the camp ground is under a purchase and sale agreement to turn a portion of the land into retail stores for Lowe's and a Super Wal-mart expansion.  Both retail stores will need to acquire wild wooded area and blast the ledge, in proximity to wetlands that reach Spring Pond, the City of Peabody's water supply.

Map data extracted from Mass GIS, using OLIVER.  

Attributes made in Vectorworks Designer, by yours truly.

News article: Lynn adds 3 more complaints to lawsuit

The Daily Item
Lynn adds complaints to lawsuit against Lowe's
by Chris Stevens
link:  itemlive.com/articles/2011/05/14/news/news08.txt

The City of Lynn has added 3 complaints to the original lawsuit filed against the City of Salem's Planning Board, the City of Salem, and the Kennedy Development Group.  The additional complaints are:

• The City of Salem is swapping 4± acres of public land without proper procedure.  (The land is proposed to be part of the retail development.  For map see here.)
• The City of Salem had a prior agreement with the Kennedy Development Group, prior to the rezoning procedure.
• It is believed Camp Lion was left by a charitable trust for the benefit of the public.  (Check out lynnlions.blogspot.com...  I want to know- who is Elizabeth Trumbull?)

Honolulu Alliance opposes the National Heritage Area

Across the Globe, the Honolulu Alliance, a community organization is opposing the National Heritage Area for mapping district areas over cultural sites in Hawaii.  Check out their webpage for more info, honolulualliance.org/Opposition_to_NHA.html


Locally, the Essex National Heritage Area has awarded the Mayor of Salem, Kimberley Driscoll, '2011 Essex Heritage Hero' (essexheritage.org/heroes/driscoll.shtml).... despite the fact that the Mayor of Salem is pushing for development over recreational and cultural areas of heritage.  Spring Pond Woods is named one of the "1000 Great Places in Massachusetts", there are many wetlands to protect, and Camp Lion is inventoried as a recreational open space to preserve, including other historic and environmental concerns.  Why the change now to develop these areas?  Where is our heritage hero?

Lynn Lions (Camp Lion) Story

Here is a link to a story, written about the Lynn Lions (Camp Lion).  Supporting documents are found by clicking the [#] after each mention. 
link:  lynnlions.blogspot.com

Exotic Flora

Purple Silver Dollar flowers are blooming near Spring Pond.  This flora is typically found in Europe.  A smaller white flower is growing nearby.  Is this another remnant of Richard Sullivan Fay's exotic arboretum from the 1800's?  In European tradition, purple Silver Dollars were placed in wedding bouquets for good luck. 

Watershed concerns

Here is a bird's eye view from Spring Pond, looking east toward Highland Ave.  The base 3d imagery is taken from Google Earth showing the topography of the high ridge, wetlands and streams downhill to Spring Pond.  A light-blue color is added to highlight the wetlands and streams.  Note:  Videos following the stream uphill will be posted in the coming weeks.

A proposed Super Wal-mart expansion wishes to blast the ledge around the existing Walmart on Rt. 107, pushing the development further back toward the water shed.  A proposed Lowe's wishes to blast the hill top, and place a building over a flowing stream and waterfall, displacing existing Camp Fire facilities.

Click on each image to view.  

Raw image, unhighlighted...

Sakura? Flowering tree

Today, a few flowering trees decorated the scenes near picturesque pools in different locations, on the hill.  The flora appears to be Sakura, an Asian Cherry Tree Blossom commonly found in Japan, China and Korea... a sweet surprise in the wild woodland of Richard Sullivan Fay's exotic arboretum.  This ornamental tree blossoms for a few days in early Spring, and does not produce fruit.  

Fay Garden

Update:  My mother helped identify this flower as a blue snowdrop, typically found in Greece.  Snowdrop flowers are native to Europe, stretching from the Pyrenees in the west, through France and Germany to Poland in the north, Italy, Northern Greece, Ukraine, and an old European area now in Turkey.  Snowdrops have been introduced and naturalized globally throughout the world.  This may be an import of one of Richard Sullivan Fay's exotic floral treasures, which might have been seen here first in the nation ( www.springpondwoods.com/p/exotic-flora.html ).  In most countries certain species of this flower are threatened.

Flowers cover the ground in Lynn, near the site of where the Fay gardens near the mansion once lay, overlooking Spring Pond.