The Little Park That Could—Local Scouts Help Resurrect Wrensch

Sitting quietly behind a  parking lot, nestled between Liddy and Melrose Place in West Caldwell, is a hidden treasure few residents even know exists. , a nearly 13-acre property in West Caldwell, was purchased with some of the town’s first Green Acres monies.

A magnet for birds and assorted wildlife, the park was previously owned by the Wrensch family of West Caldwell. Well-maintained and used by the family, the land was a nature-lover’s habitat, complete with a small pond filled with water piped in from the active Campbell’s Brook within the park.

After purchasing the property in 1975, the , then only a few years young and chaired by Jack Kupcho, envisioned creating a small, community park where area residents could enjoy hiking trails, pond fishing, ice skating and more. However, the conceptual drawing of the park was put on the back burner, and other than the surrounding residents, few knew of the park’s existence.  

Years passed before the Environmental Protection Club at , led by teacher/advisor Karen Browne, began looking for a project on which the club could focus. Hoping to get suggestions on some local needs, Browne approached the Environmental Commission in 2006 and West Caldwell Councilman Joseph Cecere and now Environmental Commission Vice Chairman Jack Kupcho suggested Wrensch Park. The group looked at the park and developed some long-term ideas, but much of the work was once again put on hold.

That is until 2009, when one local scout, looking to complete his Eagle Scout project and make a difference in his community also approached Cecere. The councilman pointed Ryan Peter, now a graduate of JCHS and a , in the direction of Wrensch Park.

“I walked the property with Ryan and we discussed what could be done to start making it into a real park again,” Cecere said. “The Audubon Society uses the pond area for bird watching, but it can be so much more.”

Cecere said he hopes to rejuvenate the pond with ice-skating in the winter and see the park be used as a year-round educational area.

To begin the process of bringing the park back to life, Peter decided on creating a path and marking a trail that follows the park’s circumference. After writing his proposal and a few revisions and changes to the original plan, the Northern New Jersey Council for the Boys Scouts approved the Eagle Scout Project.

“We spent more than 80 hours clearing and creating the path, and marking the trail,” said Peter. “More than eight people helped out, and now the trail is clean and easy to follow.”

Peter and his band of volunteers created a trail one-third of a mile long around the former lake by using old logs to mark the paths.

“There were a number of places in which we had to cut through fallen logs to create the trail,” added Peter. “But now it is a usable path.”

Other scouts followed suit, submitting additional Eagle Scout project proposals that focused on the park. Scout Chris White built benches beside Peter’s path, Kyle Flack created a second trail between Liddy Place and Campbell’s Brook, and just this summer Sebastian Fernandez built a bridge over the brook.

Two more Troop 9 scouts, Billy Bartlett and Sean Buckley, are currently working on projects to build an additional bridge connecting two sections of the park, as well as building another path through a new section of the park.

Flack, a freshman at Sienna College, decided on creating a trail after the success of Peter’s trail and meeting with Cecere. Pre-marking the Blue Trail, shoveling, raking and lining it with fallen trees took about 110 hours.

“The trail is about 800-meters long,” said Flack. “We created the paths to be walking paths only, and marked them with standard trail markers. We finished in May 2011.”

What comes next?

“One thing that I am hoping will come out of these Eagle Projects is that the Troop will have a feeling of 'adoption of' and 'being responsible for' the park,” said Troop 9 Scoutmaster . “I want to get the park to a place where we can start doing regular troop-level service projects over in the park to help keep these trails maintained and help with the overall cleanup and upkeep of the park itself.”

Cecere agrees, saying he sees a great deal more potential for the park. “This is a project that can continue to grow," he said. "We as a town will need to work on the pond and reconnect the water supply, but the scouts using the park as a source of Eagle Scout projects is wonderful.”

Wondering how to get to the park? Interested in walking the trails?

“The best way to access the park is through Melrose Place,” suggested Cecere. “I often park in the back of Friendly’s parking lot, walk the trails, and then treat myself to some ice cream. I have to admit, I’ve done that a few times.”