Cleanup clears way for winter fun at Twinney Pond in Ridgewood

njurbanforest.com

Cleanup clears way for winter fun at Twinney Pond in Ridgewood

MONDAY DECEMBER 3, 2012, 11:30 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

There is more to Ridgewood’s community cleanups than scooping up improperly discarded waste and neatly raking fallen leaves. For volunteers Ellie Gruber and George Becker, a little ingenuity is also required.

The two residents constructed a makeshift bridge leading out to the center of Twinney Pond Park in an effort to reach their treasures, which, in the case two Saturdays ago, were fallen tree limbs that had become fixed in the middle of the muck. The bridge was crafted out of previously trashed wooden planks found on site earlier in the day.

The lengths in which they traveled, literally and figuratively, to clear the mud-filled pond typified the spirit of the dozen or so volunteers and Girl Scouts who assembled for the annual cleanup of one of the village’s hidden gems.

Twinney Park, which is tucked away at the end of the Red Birch Court cul-de-sac, is highlighted by the expansive kettle pond – a natural pool that fills only after rain and when snow melts. A woodchip-laden trail with benches circles the shallow pond.

Though considered a municipal park, residents often handle Twinney’s maintenance. The cleanup two weeks ago was the yearly preparation for the cold-weather months, when the pond freezes and is used by area residents for ice skating.

“We have the Girls Scouts and so many members of Ridgewood Wildscape Association helping out. They help clean the park every year because so many kids come here and skate when it’s frozen,” said Bernadette Walsh, a Ridgewood council member, Girl Scout leader and Red Birch Court resident.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/181851241_Cleanup_clears_way_for_winter_fun_at_Twinney_Pond_in_Ridgewood.html