06/27/2022
It was a gorgeous first evening of summer at Adams Farm on Tuesday, June 21st. Not only was
the Butterfly Garden at its peak bloom, but a cool breeze kept the mosquitos away as the Friends of
Adams Farm (FOAF) held its monthly board meeting under the pavilion. Rudy Barajas and Sue Shocket
from the Walpole Preservation Alliance (WPA) were on hand to present FOAF President Roy Noepel
and FOAF founding board member and Adams Farm Committee Chair Jack Wiley with a check for
$25,000 to assist FOAF in its continued efforts to preserve, protect and enhance the Town-owned
Adams Farm conservation land in Walpole for the use and enjoyment of the public. The money was
allocated as a grant to WPA by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Executive Office of Energy &
Environmental Affairs, at the request of State Representative Paul McMurtry and State Senator Paul
Feeney, to help WPA continue its mission to promote, protect and preserve green space, historical and
natural resources, and agriculture land in Walpole.
WPA has been working for the past five years to protect the Norfolk County-owned hayfields on
North Street, which directly abut Adams Farm, from a major and oversized ground-mounted energy
installation that would not only destroy the nature and character of that important resource, but
degrade the value of Adams Farm. WPA is also assisting the Town of Walpole in its defense of
another, related legal dispute involving the hayfields, in which Norfolk County has sued the Town for
upholding the proper denial of a building permit for that industrial power project on land thoughtfully
and appropriately zoned by Walpole residents for open space, agriculture and residential use.
WPA remains committed to continuing its work to preserve the hayfields with the goal of ultimately
securing agricultural and/or conservation restrictions to preserve the property in perpetuity. In the
meantime, WPA is pleased to make this contribution to FOAF, which will use the $25,000 for important
upgrades and maintenance projects at Adams Farm including repainting the barn, extending several
footbridges and adding new signage for the trails.
If you’d like to contribute to WPA’s legal fund to assist with its continued legal expenses,
please send a check payable to Walpole Preservation Alliance to Walpole Preservation Alliance, c/o Sue
Shocket, 1340 North Street, Walpole, MA 02081. If you’d like to make a donation to the Friends of
Adams Farm, please send a check to Friends of Adams Farm, P.O. Box 725, Walpole, MA 02081 or visit
the Friends of Adams Farm website at adams-farm.com for a link to their PayPal account.
