Feb 1, 2025
For long-time Medfield residents who came of age during the 40-year span of the Rocky Woods skating program, the sadness that resulted from its closure in the winter of 1982-83 still reverberates around town – especially given the recent stretch of freezing weather that prompted a posting of memories on social media.
The original Rocky Woods property was 335 acres when first established by Dr. Joel Goldthwait, a renowned orthopedic surgeon who had acquired land in the 1920s. In 1942, he donated the property to the then Trustees of Public Reservations. In subsequent years, he and others donated additional adjacent parcels to comprise today’s 491-acre property.
According to an old Trustees Rocky Woods brochure found in Medfield Historical Society files, in its early years, a local Trustees committee was formed and comprised of nine members (one from Dover; eight from Medfield, including Goldthwait). The committee was responsible for directing the affairs of the site, with Medfield’s Mario Pederzini leading the helm.
The brochure also noted that the committee “recognized that parts of the Reservation were exceptionally suited to winter sports, such as skiing and skating.” However, due to the level of work required to oversee the winter sports, in the fall of 1946, a separate “Rocky Woods Club” was formed, complete with its own officers, directors and bylaws. Club volunteers kept the Chickering Pond ice cleared for skating, operated a ski tow, maintained ski trails, and generally supervised reservation activities, according to the brochure. Club dues were charged to cover the expense of running the site for winter recreation, and a 2,000-member limit was ultimately set to help manage the popularity of the Rocky Woods reservation.
Site becomes a winter destination
While downhill skiing had a relatively short lifespan at the reservation, the ice-skating program was long lasting. During the heyday of the Rocky Woods Club, it wasn’t unusual for 1,000 skaters to visit the site weekly from December through February. During nighttime skating, lights illuminated the pond, a lodge broadcasted music and offered skaters a lit fireplace for warming up, and hot cocoa, hot dogs and other refreshments were available.
Matthew Hurley and Doug Masters recounted stories told to them from their fathers about the Rocky Woods experience in its early days, including grooming the ice using a World War II Jeep with a plow attached so that it was “smooth as glass.”
In mid-February 1967 on a 10-degree day, an annual Rocky Woods winter carnival was created featuring ice games, races, figure-skating competitions and other activities, thanks to the efforts of Medfield resident Mrs. Ellis Allen, as described by Nancy Horan.
A thick file of carnival photos in the Society files includes images of children and adults skating in costume, with Pederzini among them. The carnival continued for about a decade.
In the early 1980s, the Trustees discontinued the skating program at Rocky Woods resulting in community disappointment. Letters from Trustees and media articles attributed the decision to a declining number of Rocky Woods volunteers to maintain the program, a financial deficit, and a new Trustee focus on passive versus active recreation at its properties.
In 1984, former selectman and current Town Historian Richard DeSorgher, established and led an ad-hoc committee that tried to restore the skating program. DeSorgher considered Rocky Woods a winter wonderland that was the best winter skating facility in the state. Committee efforts included bringing forth a town meeting warrant article that proposed appropriating funds to subsidize the program. However, after becoming aware of the article while in development, Trustees issued a letter opposing the town-funding option. The article was ultimately dismissed at town meeting.
More than 30 years after the discontinuation of the Rocky Woods skating program, the Trustees re-opened Chickering Pond for skating and introduced a new lodge. In 2017, a “Winterlude” winter festival was held. Local media reported that the event was an attempt to bring back the former recreational use of the reservation and festival tradition. A 2018 Winterlude was cancelled due to a power outage and other property issues.
Today, if sustained winter temperatures sufficiently freeze the ice, Chickering Pond at Rocky Woods opens for skating. While the current recreational offering cannot replicate memories from the original decades-long program, new generations of Rocky Woods visitors can now enjoy pond skating at the property.