♪ >> ONE OF THE GREAT PLEASURES
SAID WORKING ON CHRONICLE A SETTING OFF ON OUR BACKROADS
TRIPS.
OUR ADVENTURES IN UPCOUNTRY NEW ENGLAND HAVE NEVER LET US DOWN.
HERE’S A SECRET -- WHO SAYS YOU HAVE TO CROSS STATE LINES WITH
INTENT TO ROAD TRIP?
AFTER ALL, THERE’S PLENTY TO ENJOY RIGHT HERE IN OUR OWN
BACKYARD AND YOU WOULD BE HARD-PRESSED TO FIND A RICHER
CONCENTRATION OF HISTORY, CULTURE AND NATURAL BEAUTY THEN
RIGHT HERE IN CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS.
ANNOUNCER: THIS IS "CHRONICLE" ON WCVB CHANNEL 5.
ANTHONY: IT HAS BEEN A WINTER LIKE NO OTHER.
CONCORD’S REVOLUTIONARY BATTLE SITES MAY BE OPEN BUT THE HOMES
OF LITERARY GIANTS THAT THE ANNUAL HAWTHORNE AND RALPH WALDO
EMERSON ARE DARK.
THINGS ARE REALLY QUIET HOWEVER AT THE ORCHARD HOUSE STOP -- THE
ORCHARD HOUSE.
>> WE HAVE BEEN CLOSED SINCE MARCH AND THAT
IT NEVER STOPS.
PEOPLE ARE WANTING TO SEE THIS PLACE.
ANTHONY: THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE ORCHARD HOUSE, WHERE
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT LIVED AND WROTE HER ENDURING CLASSIC,
"LITTLE WOMEN ARE CO-TODAY, A VALENTINE’S DAY GREETING TO FANS
IN JAPAN.
>> THEY COME EVERY YEAR BECAUSE THEY LOVE "LITTLE WOMEN ARE
CO-ANTHONY: A MILE AWAY, THE MOST FAMOUS ATTRACTION, WALDEN
POND, WHERE THE ICE IS TAKING A BEATING.
>> IT TAKES A LITTLE EFFORT TO GET DOWN TO WATER SOMETIMES.
THAT’S FIVE OR SIX INCHES WORTH OF ICE.
ANTHONY: NOTHING COMES BETWEEN THE L STREET ICE SWIMMERS AND
THEIR REGULAR WALDEN SWIM.
>> WE SWIM HERE YEAR-ROUND AS FREQUENTLY AS WE CAN.
SOMETIMES IT’S ONCE A MONTH, SOMETIMES IT’S EVERY WEEK.
ANTHONY: TODAY, THEY HAVE TO CONTENT THEMSELVES WITH A QUICK
PLUNGE.
>> TOTAL SENSORY OVERLOAD.
YOUR BODY DOESN’T KNOW IF IT’S TOO HOT OR TOO COLD.
IT’S LIKE A BURNING-FREEZING FEELING.
>> IT’S ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT WHEN IT’S OVER, IT’S LIKE I’M
GLAD THAT’S DONE.
ANTHONY: WALDEN POND -- ARGUABLY THE CRUCIBLE OF THE AMERICAN
CONSERVATION MOVEMENT.
TO THIS DAY, LAND PROTECTION REMAINS A CHERISHED VALUE HERE
IN CONCORD.
BUT WHEN 140 THREE ACRES OF PRISTINE FOREST LAND ALONG THE
CONCORD RIVER CAME ON THE MARKET LAST YEAR, DEVELOPERS BEGAN
CIRCLING.
>> THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT 90 HOMES BUILT ON THIS PROPERTY.
ANTHONY: THE LAND HAS PARTICULAR SIGNIFICANCE TO DAVID O’NEILL,
THE NEW HEAD OF MASS AUDUBON.
OVER A CENTURY AGO, THIS RIVERFRONT PROPERTY WAS OCTOBER
FARM, OWNED BY WILLIAM BREWSTER, THE VERY FIRST PRESIDENT OF MASS
AUDUBON.
>> IN MANY WAYS, IT’S A CENTERPIECE OF THE CONSERVATION
MOVEMENT OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
IT’S A PRETTY PHENOMENAL PROPERTY.
ANTHONY: NEARBY, BREWSTER’S HISTORIC HOMESTEAD SITS ON A
SEPARATE PIECE OF PROPERTY.
>> WE’VE BEEN WALKING IN THIS WOODS AND WE’VE OFTEN SAID WE
WISH WE WERE RICH ENOUGH TO BUY THIS.
AT SOME POINT IT WILL PROBABLY COME ON THE MARKET.
ANTHONY: THAT WAS BEFORE THE OWNERS OF THE OCTOBER FARM SAID
SOLD THEIR BIOPHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY AND CAME INTO A SUDDEN
WINDFALL.
>> WE SOLD THAT BUSINESS IN THE SPRING AND WE WERE RICH.
WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THIS MONEY?
MY GOODNESS.
ANTHONY: THEY TURNED THEIR ATTENTION TO THE NEIGHBORING
PROPERTY THAT WAS FOR SALE.
>> SHE SAID WE WILL BUY IT AND BEING A GUY, I THOUGHT WE HAD TO
THINK ABOUT NEGOTIATIONS IN TERMS.
NANCY JUST SAID BY IT.
ANTHONY: SO THEY DID, BUT NOT FOR THEMSELVES.
THEY BOUGHT THE LAND AND IMMEDIATELY TURNED IT OVER TO
MASS AUDUBON, WHICH HAS NAMED IT BREWSTER WOODS.
>> IT’S NOT ONLY A VISIONARY GIFT, BUT IT IS THE LARGEST GIFT
IN THE HISTORY OF MASS AUDUBON, WHICH IS 100 TO BE FIVE YEARS
OLD OFFICIALLY YESTERDAY.
SO IT IS A $40 MILLION DONATION TO MASS AUDUBON.
THE GENEROSITY IS OVERWHELMING.
ANTHONY: COMBINED WITH CONTIGUOUS TOWN OWNED AND LAND
TRUST PROPERTY, ALMOST ALL OF BREWSTER’S 300 ACRE OCTOBER FARM
WILL BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FOR THE FIRST TIME AND PROTECTED
FOREVER.
>> PEOPLE TALK ABOUT GENEROSITY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT -- IT’S A
PRIVILEGE TO BE ABLE TO BE ON A PLACE AS WONDERFUL AS THIS AND
IT’S AN OBLIGATION TO SHARE IT.
ARE WE THE LESS FOR THAT?
WE ARE THE RICHER FOR THAT.
SHANYNA: DESPITE THE SIGNS, AND THE COMMEMORATIVE STONE, AND THE
INFO ON THE GROUP’S WEBSITE, MASS AUDUBON INSISTS THEIR NEW
PROPERTY IS, "BREWSTER WOODS," NO APOSTROPHE S.
AS FOR OUR WALDEN ICE SWIMMERS, THEY ARE ALL MEMBERS OF THE
MASSACHUSETTS OPEN WATER SWIMMING ASSOCIATION, WHICH
TYPICALLY DOES ITS WINTER SWIMMING IN BOSTON HARBOR.
AS ALWAYS, EXTREME CAUTION SHOULD BE USED AROUND FROZEN
PONDS AND LAKES.
NEXT, OPEN A FOOD BUSINESS DURING THE PANDEMIC?
SURE, WH