The Town’s annual Perambulation Day is returning after a five-year hiatus May 10, and this year’s focus will be on the Neck’s public ways.
Community members have been invited to meet at Chandler Hovey Park at 10 a.m. before splitting into two groups to walk the public ways and pathways in the area. This “fun, informative and historical walk” of Marblehead’s public lands is an opportunity to explore some of Marblehead’s lesser-known byways and celebrate a long-standing local tradition known as the Annual Perambulation.
“It’s like a big walk,” said Donna Cotterell, Town grant coordinator. “I said to someone: Having a whole bunch of people walk through versus one person, it’s really hard to say no to a bunch of people versus one person encroaching, so to speak, on someone’s property, or so they say.
“The point is to walk these public ways, which is like 3.1 miles, so it’s a lot of walking. What we’re going to do is divide it up and one (group) goes in one direction and the other goes in the other. If people want to cut out halfway through, at least we’ve covered all the public byways on the Neck.”
Cotterell said this event was typically run by the Marblehead Conservancy, but they decided against continuing the tradition. Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer still found this tradition important, which is why he assigned the Department of Community Development and Planning to bring the perambulation back.
There is no grant funding necessary for this event, but Cotterell stepped up to lead the project on behalf of her team.
“Baby strollers used to be called ‘perambulators,’ so just think about meandering. It’s not a race,” she said. “It’s just a nice, gentle walk through those passageways to make sure that they are still open to the public, and I’ll be leafletting the abutters to let them know that we’re coming through.”
She emphasized the event’s importance, as there are some abutters, people whose property neighbors another’s, who claim that certain byways are not actually deeded to the town, but rather to them.
Cotterell said the perambulation will help the town engineer and town tree warden establish what property belongs to whom “because some people have actually planted in some of those byways because no one’s done this in five years.”
She added that the Select Board showed interest in attending the event and that “having the support of the Town means so much.” Sustainable Marblehead will be providing water for the event. All are welcome to join – rain or shine.
