Harvard Students Spruce Up Mystic River in Medford

Medford hosted a second year with “HKS Serves” — an annual community service orientation for incoming graduate students at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (HKS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

This year, Medford welcomed 125 HKS graduate students (up from 75 in 2013) — including many international students newly arrived for advanced leadership training at Harvard. These future leaders were joined by 15 promising scholar-athletes from the Medford High School freshman football team to perform exceptional volunteer work together along the Mystic River at South Street and Route 16.

Other local community groups contributing to the massive clean-up effort included the Friends of the Mystic River, Mystic River Watershed Association, Massachusetts Division of Conservation and Recreation, Medford Community Schools, as well as the City of Medford’s Departments of Conservation, Energy & the Environment, Forestry, Highway, Parks, and Public Works (DPW), all coordinated though the offices of Mayor Michael J. McGlynn.

The work included: vista pruning to open up wider, more unobstructed views of Mystic River along South Street and Route 16 by removing invasive plants, trees, and undergrowth; the removal of trees causing structural damage to the granite bridge at Route 16; and the corrective pruning of valuable established trees and understory plants.

Student volunteers also cleared walkways half-buried by weeds and an overall accumulation of soil and leaf litter. In conjunction with the DPW, they picked up and removed riverside trash and debris. Medford City and State DCR employees mowed weeds and the large lawn areas along South Street. In partnership with the Friends of the Mystic River, one dedicated group worked hard to eradicate a stand of Japanese knotweed, an invasive plant that resembles bamboo and grows aggressively along the riverbank.

In addition to opening up vistas of our beloved Mystic River to pedestrians, bicyclists, and neighbors, organizers are hoping to increase awareness and appreciation of this valuable natural resource by increasing its visibility to vehicular traffic along the two major thoroughfares of Route 16 and South Street. The ongoing clean-up efforts also aim to create a safer, more welcoming, and more accessible riverfront.

The ongoing HKS Serves partnership with Medford promotes the shared and continuing stewardship of the Mystic River. The clean-ups demonstrate the effectiveness of bringing various community groups together — from student and local citizen volunteers to city, state, and local environmental agencies — to improve our natural environment and cityscape. Last, and perhaps most important, the cleanups also provide a collaborative educational experience and introduction to Medford for the John F. Kennedy School of Government graduate students, many of whom are new not only to our city, but to Harvard, to Massachusetts, and to the USA.

Many thanks again to all the participants from Harvard Kennedy School, Medford High School, and all those who helped organize this successful river cleanup!

– Submitted by Ann Frenning Kossuth