Name: Erica Quigley
Town: Jamaica Plain
Volunteer activities: I help out on the programming committee with event planning, particularly children’s activities. We try to go beyond standard crafts so that kids are engaging with the natural world and using their creativity. At Winter Fest, kids have experimented with ice and food coloring. I’ve also helped do some strategic planning.
FBH member since: 2006
Favorite Hike: Buck Hill. I like to come from Route 28 and go up the Forest Path, then approach Buck Hill from the north. The scrubby plants make me feel like I’m in the White Mountains.
Favorite thing to do in the Blue Hills: Rolling over logs to find the critters hiding underneath.
Funniest thing that happened at the Blue Hills: When I was a teacher naturalist with Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center, I would frequently bring children on field trips to the Blue Hills. One group of fifth graders spent the whole hike being wolves, howling and running in a pack. Outside of a big forest, that kind of imaginative play wouldn’t be socially acceptable for that age, but they felt free to transform themselves and really play.
Favorite activities with Friends of the Blue Hills: I enjoy thinking about how to engage diverse participants. Everyone enjoys the reservation differently, so you need to find out what’s important to them and use that knowledge to help them participate in supporting the reservation.
