Thank you to the Garden Club of Concord for providing us with a beautiful wreath this year! The handcrafted wreath and seasonal greens provide a splash of color and holiday cheer as visitors and local residents continue their daily walks around the North Bridge Visitor Center.

The garden club generously delivers a wreath to the park each year and hangs it on the front door of the North Bridge Visitor Center, once home to the Buttrick family. The wreath is particularly special to us because of the decoration attached to the bow! Can you spot the minute man figure hidden in the bow in the top right photo? Too small? Click on the button below for a larger image.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

This has undoubtedly been a tough year for all of us. But in these difficult times, the Park’s value has become even more evident. Minute Man has never shut down. In fact, its trails, landscapes and historic sights serve as a welcome respite for hundreds of thousands of visitors.

Despite the challenges and changes the pandemic has imposed on our work this year, the Friends of Minute Man has played a highly active role in sustaining the Park.

Join us in showing your support for the Park with a donation to the Friends of Minute Man today. Please give as generously as you are able - $25, $50, $100 or more goes a long way. Or, consider a monthly donation this year. You can donate online by using the button below or mail a check to the Friends of Minute Man National Park, 174 Liberty Street, Concord, MA 01742.

We thank you for your ongoing support and wish you and your family a safe and healthy holiday season ahead.

Minute Man National Historical Park welcomed Hanscom Air Force Bases’ Scout Pack 173 for an enjoyable day of service before winter arrives. Pack 173 assisted in maintaining some of Minute Man’s back-trail footpaths and helped relocate the Codman Community Farm sheep that are currently hosted by the park.

In the morning, scouts were divided into small, socially-distant groups and dispersed around the Hartwell Tavern area to help clear storm damage and weeds from the Vernal Pool trail, Smith trail, and Smith and Hartwell Connector trails. In the afternoon, Pack 173 convened at the Hartwell Tavern to learn about the Ouessant sheep housed at Minute Man. Scouts enjoyed refilling the water trough and moving the fence around the sheep’s new grazing grounds. For the day’s grand finale, scouts released the sheep from their pen and herded them through the field to their new enclosure!

Minute Man National Historical Park is very appreciative of the support provided by Scout leader Chris Nichols and Pack 173 and can’t wait to host them again!

Volunteers recently spent a mild November day planting 1,000 daffodil bulbs and 250 grape hyacinths in the Buttrick Gardens! Flags were placed to mark the new bulb locations, making spring maintenance easier.

Narcissus and daffodil bulbs were originally planted by the Buttrick family to provide early spring blooms. These new bulbs join hundreds of others that have been planted in the past few years in an effort to revive the historic plantings.

As British troops retreated on April 19th,1775 some of the heaviest fighting between British Regulars and Provincial militia occurred in the village of Menotomy, now Arlington, Massachusetts.

Arlington Historical Society and a group of scholars headed by Joel Bohy, Director of Historic Arms & Militaria at Bruneau & Co. Auctions, are conducting research on bullet strikes resulting from a deadly skirmish at the James Russell house that occurred on the afternoon of April 19th. Click here to learn more!

Would you like to become a newsletter sponsor? For more information, contact Kathleen Fahey at director@friendsofminuteman.org and check out our sponsorship opportunities on our website.