Dudley Pond Association Celebrates 50 years

This is the second of several articles celebrating the Dudley Pond Association’s 50 years of service to the town. Although formal written records of the early years of the association are difficult to find we do know that in 1968, the year of its founding, the DPA had 22 members; in 1988 the membership had increased to 64 and in 2018 hovers at 180 including 67 Life Members.

Wayland resident, Irene Praeger, wrote a history of Dudley Pond for an environmental course she was taking at Northeastern University. That paper has been cited and used many times to record the early activities around Dudley Pond. In the mid to late 1990’s DPA member, Stan Wohlfarth, with a grant from the Wayland Cultural Council, updated the information in Irene’s paper and published Dudley Pond – Changing Views.

The Dudley Pond Association was formed by pond residents to protect the advancing eutrophication of the pond and to “maintain order and tranquility”. From 1968 until the late 1970’s weed control of Dudley Pond appeared as a line item in the Park and Recreation Budget and Lake Shore Drive resident, Brad Bernard, served under the direction of the Chief of Police as the Pond Patrol Officer. Current DPA Life Member and pond resident, Bob Hanlon, served as the second (and last) Pond Patrol Officer when the position was eliminated from the Police Department budget.

After having both weed control and pond patrol eliminated from the budget, the DPA lobbied the Selectmen to form a town committee devoted to protecting and managing Dudley Pond, Mill Pond and Heard Pond. In June of 1979, the Town’s Surface Water Quality Committee was formed. Members were selected by the Selectmen, Conservation Committee and Park and Recreation. Dudley Pond Association members, Tom Belote and Arlene Pollak were appointed to the first Committee and each served for a number of years.

In 1981, with no town budget for weed control, and with $214.53 in the treasury, the DPA set out to raise funds to care for Dudley Pond. It’s first Winter Carnival was held on Super Bowl Sunday, 1982. This was a tremendously popular town wide event with ice skating races, broom hockey, an ice fishing derby and the final activity of the day was a Tug of War on Ice. Weather permitting the Winter Carnival was held every year through 1996. Money raised from the Winter Carnival paid for grant writing for pond maintenance projects submitted on behalf of the Town.

In 1985 Wayland received one of the first grants awarded under the Clean Lakes Act. At a Special Town Meeting the town voted to appropriate $180,000 as it’s share of the $720,000 grant to install catch basins and pave roads surrounding the pond to greatly reduce sand, salt and road wash from entering Dudley Pond.

The Dudley Pond Association’s 50^th Anniversary celebration will be held at the Sandy Burr Country Club on October 13, 2018 from 7 – 11 pm. Tickets are available at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dudley-pond-association-50th-anniversary-tickets. Tickets will be sold by members of the DPA-starting April 2.