Melrose Ward 7 City Councilor Ryan Williams volunteers to help remove invasive water chestnuts at Ell Pond. (Photo, Finn McSweeney)
MELROSE — Interested in helping to clean up invasive water chestnuts at Ell Pond? Community volunteers will be conducting hand-pulling at Ell Pond this Sunday, July 30 and next Sunday, August 6 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Volunteers should provide their own kayaks or canoes (and life jackets!), though limited reservations may be available at wakefieldboating.com. If you do not have a kayak but still want to help, please bring a porous basket (like a plastic laundry bin) to help carry the plants which are pulled out of the water.
Waterproof gloves and sunscreen are recommended! Please meet near the dog park. This will augment the machine harvesting which has been taking place for the past two weeks at the pond, a project being managed by the Melrose Conservation Commission and made possible by a combination of a state and local funding. We hope to see you there!