Volunteer Spotlight: name: Daniel Byrnes

Town: Braintree

Volunteer activities: Writing for the Friends of the Blue Hills Newsletter and Twitter account

FBH member since: 2013

Favorite Hike: Skyline trail

Favorite thing to do in the Blue Hills: Hiking, wondering

Funniest thing that happened at the Blue Hills: Taking pictures of deer became like a fashion photo section when the deer kept getting closer and seeming to strike poses.

Favorite activities with Friends of the Blue Hills: Green Up, trail maintenance. Doing good work with good people for a place I love.

Name: Pete Tierney Town: West Roxbury Volunteer activities: Trail work FBH member since: 2011 (I should have joined way before) Favorite Hike: Skyline, although as I explore the many other areas of the Blue Hills I am adding a lot of “favorites.” Favorite thing to do in the Blue Hills: I like to hike.  It’s a great way to stay in shape and relieve stress.  It beats any gym. Most Interesting thing that happened at the Blue Hills:  I like talking to the people that I meet on the trail—ranging from families [...]

Name: Jackie Wilbur

Town: Fairmount Hill, Hyde Park

Volunteer activities: I love to help out at the large group events encouraging others to get to know FBH and our important work

Favorite Hike: Too many choices!

Favorite thing to do in the Blue Hills: Walk with my dogs and bird watch.

Favorite activities with Friends of the Blue Hills: Maple Sugar Days because it heralds the arrival of spring!

Name:    Susan Sharkey

Town:   Randolph

Volunteer activities:   Trail maintenance

FBH member since:  2009

Favorite Hike: Walking around the great swamp area.

Favorite thing to do in the Blue Hills:  Hiking, looking at wildflowers, birds, meeting other hikers on the trails

Funniest thing that happened at the Blue Hills:  A few winters ago there was a lot of snow on the ground so I decided to take a short cut over a hill to get to another trail.  I had to skirt around fallen logs, trees and large rocks.  After a while I realized it was taking longer than it should.  I finally came upon another [...]

Name: Christine Miller

Town: Cambridge

Volunteer activities: Organize events with the Friends of the Blue Hills Programming Committee

FBH member since: 2011

Favorite Hike: Skyline Trail-you’d never know you were so close to Boston. It has views like New Hampshire!

Favorite thing to do in the Blue Hills: Hike!

Funniest thing that happened at the Blue Hills: One time my family was hiking there together and my dad suggested that we run down the ski hill to get down faster. My mom opted out of that one, but my sisters, my brother and I decided to follow my dad. I [...]

Name: Steve Campbell

Town: Jamaica Plain

Volunteer activities: Trail maintenance

FBH member since: 2012

Favorite Hike: Skyline trail

Funniest thing that happened in the Blue Hills: When my chow chow was scared to climb up an incline and I had to carry her uphill. There was a group of hikers watching and laughing at me carrying a 55 pound dog around.

Town: Quincy

Volunteer activities: Two separate geology walks for the FBH at Great Blue Hill and the Quincy Quarries.  Additionally, I have been leading geology walks for other organizations here in eastern Massachusetts for many years.

FBH member since:  ~1995

Favorite Hike: Hancock Hill and Sawcut Notch Path.

Favorite thing to do in the Blue Hills: My wife and I spend time hiking and birding in every month of the year.  Additionally, walking along Burma Road, Fowl Meadow, during the bird migrations is always rewarding.

Funniest thing that happened at the Blue Hills:  Being surprised, then laughing, then pleased by the unexpected proximity of northern water [...]

Name:  Robert C Walcott

Town: Easton (45 years)

Volunteer activities: After 20 years of hiking and enjoying the Blue Hills, I finally became a member of the Friends of Blue Hills 4 years ago.   In 2008, when the Friends of the Blue Hills launched the Adopt-A-Trail Program I decided that since my last name is Walcott, I should help maintain one of the major trails in the reservation – Wolcott Path.  I have since adopted other trails, helping to maintain them throughout the year.

FBH member since: 2007

Favorite Hike: All 121 miles of trails. But if I had to [...]

Town: Milton

Volunteer activities: Staffing the Friends of the Blue Hills info table at community events, advocacy

FBH member since: 2009

Favorite Hike: A 45-min.-loop that takes me over the top of Hemenway Hill.

Favorite thing to do in the Blue Hills: Walk with my family and our two dogs

Best day in the Blue Hills: Shortly after we moved to Milton from downtown Boston in the fall of 2009, my son, my aunt, and I left our house with a backpack filled with water, a container of gorp, and our map of the Blue Hills and hiked up Blue [...]

Name: Amir Degany

Town: Stoughton, Ma

Volunteer activities: Adopt-A-Trail program since 2008, adopted the Wildcat Notch Path.

FBH member since: 2006

Favorite Hike: Skyline

Favorite thing to do in the Blue Hills: Hiking with my son and son-in-law, blueberry picking, maintaining trails and training for other hikes.

Favorite activities with Friends of the Blue Hills: Trail maintenance events because they allow me to meet and get to know other FBH members and volunteers.