Callahan Dog Owners Group

05/28/2024

Please join Mass Parks for All (MPA) and the Friends of Callahan State Park (FOC) on Tuesday, June 4, 2024 as they announce the creation of this new park friends group and a joint effort to create a Parks for All plan, a pilot initiative to improve state parks by reaching out to their most dedicated users.

DATE: June 4, 2024
TIME: 8:30-9:30 a.m.
PLACE: Callahan Club, 1 Eagle Lane, Framingham (within Millwood Preserve, 175 Millwood Street, Framingham)

Master of Ceremonies will be MPA Board member Arthur Bergeron. Speakers include Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Commissioner Brian Arrigo, FOC board Chair Doug Lawrence, Framingham Mayor Charlie Sisitsky, and state Senator Jamie Eldridge. Other guests include state representatives Jack Patrick Lewis (D-Framingham), Danielle Gregoire (D-Marlborough), Carmine Gentile (D-Sudbury) Kate Donaghue (D-Westborough).

The event will be capped off by a short walk to the main Framingham entrance of Callahan State Park, featuring 958 acres of park lands in Framingham and Marlborough used for dog walking, hiking, horseback riding, and bicycling.

The Parks for All Plan will help FOC bring responsible grass roots park stewardship principles to all park users. The plan will be informed by a recreational use study conducted by both groups. MPA will contribute to the cost of developing the plan and will assist FOC with remaining fundraising to create it. Part of that support will come from two MPA funds created for such projects. One is the Betsy Shure Gross Public-Private Partnership Fund, named in honor of Betsy, long-time parks advocate, former Massachusetts environmental assistant secretary, and MPA board member. The other is the Ann Roosevelt Public Access Fund, named in recognition of Ann, also a life-long parks advocate and Mass Conservation Voters (MPA’s parent organization) board member.

For further information and to RSVP, please send email to [email protected].

01/18/2024

CalDog newsletter 1/2024

Since 2004, we are a committed group of dog-lovers with the chief mission of ensuring Callahan remains a safe, off-leash oasis. To this end, Callahan Dogs:

07/25/2023

We will be holding an election for the open board seats. After roughly a decade of involvement at different levels, I (Meghan Grabau) announced my decision to step down from the board at our most recent meeting. My departure along with several other board members terms ending has left us with 3 open board seats.

Callahan Dog Owners Group is a 501(c)3 with a 5 member board. Ann Miller and Marc Spigel are the current board members staying on. The board acts as liaison to DCR, manages social media and email and maintains p**p bags at the park. The time commitment is minimal - we meet very infrequently and almost exclusively via zoom.

Callahan Dog Owners Group has worked to maintain off leash dog privileges at Callahan for almost 2 decades. This wouldn’t be possible without volunteers and the work of the board. Without a full board, CalDog will not be able to continue.

We will be holding an informational meeting on Sept 13, 2023 at 7 pm via zoom. Board elections will be held Sept 27th with new board members taking their seats on Oct 1, 2023 to serve out their term (one 1 year term, 2 two year terms). If you have questions, please reach out to [email protected] or speak with one of the current board members: Meghan Grabau, Ann Miller, Marc Spigel, Nancy Joyce, Tom Rock or Robyn Settino.

05/06/2022

DCR heard our request and supplied a new table at the pond! With a metal base, this should last for years and will be easy to maintain! Hooray!!

05/05/2022

Great time near the pond this afternoon!
New friends cooling off. 😎

04/22/2022

Join us tomorrow for Park Serve Day to celebrate Earth Day Weekend!