Blog

2024 Earth Day Cleanup at Gertude Spaulding Park

5/6/2024

Just in time for Earth Day, Friends of Lake Quannapowitt was joined by 16 volunteers from Weston & Sampson to help clean up the Gertrude Spaulding Park lakeshore and remove invasive species. Volunteers focused their efforts on removing ❌ Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), ❌ Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora), ❌ Crownvetch (Securigera varia), ❌ Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and ❌ Orange...

Read More


Position Explained: FOLQ Supports Town Meeting Article 16

4/22/2024

Dear Friends of Lake Quannapowitt, The Wakefield Planning Board recently voted against supporting the citizen petition request for a zoning by-law amendment for 50 Quannapowitt Parkway for a self-storage facility. The Friends of Lake Quannapowitt Board had considered options for this site, and the Board of Directors voted unanimously to support the amendment. As such, FOLQ sent a letter to...

Read More


Bioretention Areas Improve Water Quality

3/14/2024

Have you noticed the two bioretention areas on the Lake? Bioretention areas, also known as rain gardens, are one way the Town of Wakefield and FOLQ are helping to manage stormwater runoff into the Lake. This bioretention area, at the north end of the Lake, takes in much of the stormwater runoff from the surrounding area before it enters the...

Read More


Stormwater runoff and Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, MA

Stormwater Effects on Lake Quannapowitt

3/6/2024

In Wakefield, a lot of rain and snow (or “stormwater”) flows directly, untreated, into our town’s bodies of water. Any water that cannot be absorbed where it falls flows into the town’s drainage systems, which travels to our streams and wetlands, such as Lake Quannapowitt, Mill River, Saugus River, Mystic River, Reedy Meadow, Crystal Lake and many others. And if...

Read More


Owl snared in fishing line. Photo courtesy of Carin Macnamara / Advanced Imaging ©2024

Great Horned Owl Entangled: How You Can Help Wildlife at Lake Quannapowitt

1/11/2024

You may have heard about the Great Horned Owl at Lake Quannapowitt earlier this month. Here’s more info on how to enjoy “Owl Season” at Lake Q and how to keep wildlife safe. “January is owl season in Massachusetts,” according to Mass Audubon in a recent WBUR interview, with many of the birds courting and nesting this time of year....

Read More


Laurel Perkins, Gertrude Spaulding Award Winner

2023 Gertrude Spaulding Award: Laurel Perkins

11/30/2023

Congratulations to this year’s Gertrude Spaulding award winner, Laurel Perkins, who has been a member of FOLQ’s Col. Connelly Park Committee. In particular, Laurel’s incredibly hard work on the program to install memorial bricks around the Connelly Park Flagpole has made a lasting impression on our Lake and our organization. Thank you, Laurel! Learn more about the Bricks by the...

Read More