"I can see the promised land. It's almost finished." Neil Linsky said that to the Berwick Select Board on September 15, according to the Town of Berwick's write-up of the meeting. He was talking about something many people in town have already walked on: a wheelchair-accessible ramp and boardwalk at the start of Penny Pond Trail, across Sullivan Street from the Berwick Public Library.
The interesting part is how it got built. No capital budget or contractor bid produced it. Four people sat around a table at the library, one of them offered to do the carpentry, and a $25,000 grant paid for the lumber. This is now one of the most useful new pieces of outdoor space in town. A volunteer project also lasts only as long as people help maintain it, and that part is up to the neighbors who use it.
From a library table to 175 feet
The project started in early 2025, when four people met at the library to talk about what could be done with the aging trail. Library Director Sharon Kelly suggested the improvements, and Linsky, a longtime carpenter, offered to build them. The group also included Town Planner James Bellissimo and Stina Brasellton. Kelly has since retired after ten years as director. The library held an open house on her last day, October 6.
Here's how the boardwalk grew this year, using the town's own updates:
| When | Where the project stood | Source |
|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | Ramp finished, about 100 to 110 feet of boardwalk built, goal of roughly 300 feet to a seating area | Town article, May 21 |
| August 4, 2026 | Eight more 8-foot sections added, bringing the boardwalk to 175 feet from the ramp | September Berwick Bimonthly |
| September 15, 2026 | Linsky told the Select Board he had finished the work he hoped to do this year | Select Board packet, Oct. 6 |
| September 25, 2026 | Volunteer workday scheduled, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., to set up the seating area and finish the boardwalk | Town article, Sept. 16 |
The money came from a $25,000 materials grant that the town's May 2026 article said was received the year before. Bellissimo secured the grant, and local contractors and volunteers contributed as well. Linsky's time was donated. For a structure that brings people about 175 feet into the woods on a solid surface, that's a remarkably small public cost.
Built so it can be fixed
Most trail work in New England wears out the same way. The wood rots, the footing gets soft, and someone eventually has to tear the whole thing out. The old Penny Pond walkway followed that path. In the town's May article, Linsky described rotting half-timbers, unstable footing and old spikes that made parts of the trail hard or unsafe to walk. Volunteers pulled the old material out before construction started.
He built the replacement to be repaired. It uses crushed stone, rebar, pressure-treated lumber and screws throughout, so individual sections can be swapped out later. The ramp is wide enough for wheelchairs, carts and someone walking alongside, and edge boards help keep wheels on the path.
"Everything can be replaced," Linsky said in the same town article. "There's no adhesives. There's just basically screws and the material itself."
Speaking as someone who has renovated a few properties, that's the right choice. A board held on with screws comes out in five minutes. A glued assembly turns into a demolition project. On a trail that depends on volunteers, an easy repair is the kind that actually gets done.
According to the town's September article, the goal was to open part of the trail to people using wheelchairs, walkers and motorized mobility devices, and that's already happening. Linsky told the Board that visitors in battery-powered mobility carts had been following his progress down the trail and were happy to get back into the woods. The Select Board's minutes record the same thing in plainer words: "Citizens are already using it and giving positive feedback."
Four feet wide and shared
All that durability depends on how people use the trail. The boardwalk is four feet wide. When a stroller meets a wheelchair there, someone has to wait.
At the September 15 meeting, Linsky raised two problems. One was kids from the neighborhood riding bikes on the boardwalk while families with strollers and people in wheelchairs were also using it. "I've tried to convince the neighborhood kids to stay off the trail with their bicycles," he said, as reported in the town's article. "Unfortunately, I have no control when I'm not there, obviously."
The other was dog waste, which he said had been a particular nuisance during construction. He asked the Board about signs restricting bicycles and asking people to pick up after their dogs. The September 15 minutes record his update and the Board's thanks, with no vote on signs. Until signs go up, a few courtesies cover the concerns Linsky raised.
- Walk your bike on the boardwalk.
- Bring a bag for your dog. Linsky has been working with piles of lumber right beside the path.
- Let wheelchairs and strollers go first. Four feet doesn't leave much room for two-way traffic.
The town also arranged a police detail for the September 25 workday to handle traffic and parking along Sullivan Street. The trailhead opens directly onto Sullivan Street, so plan where you'll park before you go.
Getting there and what you'll find
Penny Pond Trail runs through a conserved area of about 20 acres bordered by Sullivan Street, Old Pine Hill Road, Logan Street and Dobson Road. The town's trail page says to park at the library and walk a short way down Sullivan Street to the marked entrance. Maine by Foot also recommends library parking because the road has little shoulder room. It describes the walk from Sullivan Street to Dobson Road as about half a mile, with small loops at the southern end and a route past the marshy pond.
The town's page lists about a half mile of trails, with split-log walkways through wet spots and interpretive signs along the way. The improved trail was first dedicated in 2014, so the new boardwalk is its second major upgrade, coming a little over a decade after the first. The pond itself is small and shallow, and people sometimes skate on it.
The boardwalk is meant to end at a seating area. The plan calls for rubber mats covering a 16-by-24-foot space, plus accessible outdoor furniture. In May, Linsky said recycled plastic furniture had already been bought, and that the aim was a stable surface wheelchairs and carts could roll onto straight from the boardwalk. The September Bimonthly described the goal as accessible picnic tables. If you're looking for an easy fall outing, a short walk from the library to that spot works for nearly any group, including grandparents with a walker and a toddler in a stroller.
What could come next
The boardwalk is one piece of a bigger idea that, according to the town's May article, has been talked about in Berwick for more than a decade. The idea is a connected network of trails and sidewalks linking Great Falls Park, Penny Pond, the Dobson neighborhood, Logan Street, the community garden and downtown. Bellissimo said he had also spoken with Somersworth's city planner about possible riverwalk connections along the Salmon Falls River.
"The idea is from Great Falls Park, from a series of trails and sidewalks to be able to get to key destinations throughout the downtown," Bellissimo said in that article.
That network is still an idea, with no schedule attached. The near-term needs are smaller. In May, the group was looking for more grant money to finish the work and said available funding might be lower than the year before. It was also looking into running electricity to the trailhead, which could someday support limited, shielded lighting at the entrance. Residents at the library presentation asked about signs, lighting, maintenance, environmental concerns, and whether more of the pond could be restored. Bellissimo said any work on the pond itself would need more research and care, but that the idea was worth exploring.
Upkeep falls to the people who use the trail. Linsky's list of volunteer jobs includes moving materials, spreading crushed stone, assembling benches and picnic tables, clearing sections of trail and helping with future maintenance. "Whatever people think that they can do, whether it's an hour," he said in the May article, "anything that people can do, I would appreciate." James Bellissimo, the town planner, is the volunteer contact, at [email protected].
More volunteer-run events around town
The October Berwick Bimonthly lists more events organized by the same kind of local volunteers, several within walking distance of the trailhead:
- Pumpkin contest voting, through Saturday, October 24. Stop by the Berwick Public Library during open hours and vote for the spookiest, most creative and overall favorite decorated pumpkin.
- Trunk 'N Treat, Saturday, October 24, 5 to 7 p.m., Memorial Park. This free costume event has trick-or-treating at decorated car trunks. You can register a trunk at berwickme.myrec.com.
- Beggars' Night, Friday, October 30. Berwick trick-or-treats the night before Halloween.
- Sand Bucket Brigade, Saturday, November 14. Berwick for a Lifetime delivers buckets of sand and salt mix to residents 55 and older or anyone with mobility challenges. Volunteers meet at the library at 10 a.m. Requests and sign-ups go through the library or [email protected].
The Berwick Walkers also meet at 10:30 a.m. every Monday and Thursday at Evergreen Cemetery, 55 Cemetery Road. If one stroll a week isn't enough, that's a second.
As someone who renovates houses, Heather Crosby appreciates anything built to be unscrewed and fixed rather than torn out, and the Penny Pond boardwalk fits that description. If you're making fall plans around Berwick, or want to talk through a renovation of your own, Let's Connect.
