Leovich Landing Dedication Scheduled

Leovich Landing will be dedicated at 3pm October 24 at the site, 52 Dudley Road in Oxford. This is an occasion to once again thank our many generous donors, bringing the acquisition phase of the project to a close. In addition, we will review work already completed on the site and plans for the future.

French River Park Lease Signed

On October 8, The French River Connection and the town of Webster signed an agreement to lease 1.66 acres of riverfront property in downtown Webster for at least 15 years from Holden Block LLC for $1.00. This will become French River Park, the anchor to the Webster Riverwalk which is an urban section of the French River Greenway. Execution of the lease opens the door to a grant from the Webster Redevelopment Authority to begin engineering, permitting, and construction.

French River Day is coming up

Our annual French River Day picnic event is scheduled for Saturday September 12 3-6pm at Hodges Village, below the dam at Aggutebak Pond. We will furnish hamburgers, hot dogs, condiments, etc, and attendees are asked to bring a dish to share. Bring chairs. Enjoy an afternoon of fellowship, paddle on the pond, kick back.

To sign up, please contact Elaine

Dam Trail Race a Great Success

The Dam Trail Race held Saturday August 8 at Hodges Village in Oxford was a great success. 117 runners finished the race, up from 104 last year. The weather was perfect and the runners were very pleased with the course laid out by race director John Grenier. Thanks to John and to the many volunteers, and to donations from local businesses of food and prizes, we were able to net $1500 for the French River Connection.

Leovich Landing Sale Closes

The sale of the 4 acre parcel in Oxford to be known as Leovich Landing closed June 10, with the Dudley Conservation Land Trust now owning the property. Thanks to many generous contributions, over $5000 will be available for cleaning up the property and installing a parking lot and cartop paddling access point. There is still some administrative work to do to file the conservation restriction and get reimbursed by the state through the Conservation Partnership Grant.

Fundraising for purchase of the property was accomplished by a partnership consisting of the Dudley Conservation Land Trust, the French River Connection, and an Oxford Citizens' Committee. In addition to many individual, business, and organizational donations and the state grant, funds were received from the Fields Pond Foundation, the Bafflin Foundation, and the town of Oxford.

Purchase of this property completes a long-standing French River Connection goal.

Leovich Landing Fundraising Goes Over the Top

On May 22, The Bafflin Foundation awarded the partnership consisting of the Dudley Conservation Land Trust and the French River Connection a grant for $7500 which pushes us over our fundraising goal for the project. We will now be able to close on the property and plan stewardship tasks. Many thanks to all who supported us.

Oxford Contributes to Leovich Landing

On May 6, the Oxford town meeting voted $5000 to purchase the Conservation Restriction for Leovich Landing. This brings total contributions and pledges to over $63,000, enough to purchase the property. We are still in need of contributions to pay closing costs and to support initial stewardship of the land.