by Julie Gowel ·
Friday, May 29, 2026
Crew team members head to Rock and Saxl Islands to pick up trash. From left: Etta Maxwell, Bronwyn Lemke, Teddy Stoddard, Xander Sweden, and Hanfang Dong. Hidden from view: Oscar Maxwell. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
While the spring weather continues to bring early winter-like conditions to Harvard, town officials are gearing up for the summer season at Bare Hill Pond. Beach staffing, boat storage, and resource management have been at the forefront of Park and Rec Director Anne McWaters’ and Harbormaster Ben Baron’s minds for months.
As part of the kickoff to the season, Baron asked the Bromfield Acton-Boxborough Bare Hill Rowing Association (BHRA) for assistance in prepping the town’s beloved pond for opening weekend, which took place over the Memorial Day holiday. The town beach’s official season began on Saturday, May 23, and in the early evening of Friday, May 22, varsity rowers took motorboats out to Rock Island and Blueberry Island to collect trash (See “Bare Hill Pond’s Islands” for a collection of facts about the pond’s land masses).
Catherine Chappell, BHRA program director and varsity boys rowing coach, said in an interview with the Press that she regularly has the team sweep the parking lot and beach at the pond to remove debris.
Rolling Rock and Miller beer cans are among the trove of trash from the islands. An internet search, in addition to the pull tab top (above), date this can from the late ’70s or early ’80s.
It might not seem like a teenager’s ideal Friday night, but the students participating in the cleanup were not just obliged, they were excited to help. “We spend so much time on the pond,” said Acton-Boxborough sophomore Bronwyn Lemke. “[I’m happy to do] whatever I can do to help give back.”
The first stop for the cleanup crew was Rock Island, the first land mass easily viewed from the town beach, and a popular destination for paddlers. Rising nearly 4 feet above water level, the large boulder provides an exhilarating jump into the water: a rite of passage for many generations of Harvard youth.
The five rowers quickly took to the brush-laden island and began collecting items left behind by visitors. A few unusual discoveries surfaced including a discarded shirt, Christmas lights, vape debris, and perhaps the most curious item of the evening: a Miller beer can dating back to the late 1970s or early 1980s, identifiable by its pull-tab top—a design phased out decades ago due to safety issues.
Next, students headed to Blueberry Island, another popular destination for pond-goers of all ages. The island boasts many wild, lowbush blueberry plants offering sweet treats on hot summer days. It also has a large, flat boulder used for sunbathing, and as a launchpad into the waters 2 feet below.
While Blueberry Island was surprisingly clean, according to trash collectors, in a strange coincidence, the group found a vintage tab-top ring in the water at the shoreline, matching the almost 50-year-old Miller can from Rock Island.
With the islands sufficiently tidied, the beach was ready to host residents and visitors, even if the chilly, wet weather of the long weekend kept folks away.
McWaters said the 2026 season will include all the regular programming, such as swimming lessons, sailing instruction, paddling programs, boat rentals, and the Summer Fun sessions.
New for this season are equipment upgrades and a pilot program for middle- school-aged kids as part of Summer Fun. McWaters said older damaged kayaks and paddleboards were removed from the rental fleet, and four new paddleboards were added.
“We hear from parents now and then, ‘What can my middle-school-aged kid do?’” McWaters said. “There’s not much.” She met with Summer Fun coordinator, Jack Dunn, to discuss options for the subset of kids that McWaters described as too old for “camp,” but too young to drive themselves places and explore what Harvard has to offer.
Summer Fun is a three-hour program for kids, ages 5 to 11. This year, the program will be offered for three weeks, beginning on July 6, and the middle-school program, for kids ages 11 to 14, will be offered for one week, beginning on July 27.
McWaters and Dunn are still planning the program, but hope to offer activities such as paddleboard explorations of the pond’s islands, bike adventures around town, including the pump track which she hopes will be completed by late July, and outdoor excursions introducing students to lesser-known parts of Harvard.
On the water, Baron said boaters should expect increased safety enforcement this summer. New for 2026, anyone under the age of 35 operating a motorized vessel on the pond is required to have a Massachusetts boating license. Baron recently helped oversee a boater safety course, with 22 attendees successfully completing certification.
Massachusetts Environmental Police will be making more frequent visits to Bare Hill Pond, particularly during busy evening hours. Officers typically check for life jackets, required navigation lighting for evening boating, and unsafe vessel operation.
“If somebody’s in the middle of the pond doing crazy things, they’re going to respond to that,” Baron said.
With clean shores, new programming, updated equipment, and increased safety oversight, Bare Hill Pond is poised for another busy summer season, as soon as the weather decides to cooperate.
Bare Hill Pond islands
Bare Hill Pond is home to several small islands. Most are privately owned with a few designated as conservation land, according to the town of Harvard Geographic Information System (GIS).
Saxl Island is known to locals as Rock Island. It is a publicly accessible conservation island. A large boulder provides a 4-foot drop into the water for anyone brave enough to launch themselves off the top.
Four Acre Island consists of three parcels of land, all privately owned. It boasts electricity for the dwellings occupying each, and running water supplied by the pond. Most have compost toilet systems.
Rock Island is known as Blueberry Island to pond frequenters. It has wild, lowbush blueberries, which are usually ripe for picking in July. It is listed as privately owned, but is regarded as visitor friendly.
Whitney Island is a private island with one home, no electricity.
Ministers Island is 4.25-acre island that was purchased by the Maxwell family in 2017. Oscar Maxwell, a junior BHRA rower from Acton-Boxborough, participated in the cleanup and shared his experience owning an island with the Press. He said his family, generational residents of town, came together to buy the property and spent years refurbishing the landscape and log cabin. Since then, he describes it as a place where his family spends summer days and nights reconnecting and enjoying one of their favorite aspects of town. His cousin, Etta Maxwell, a fellow rower on the team, talked about the games they play during the get togethers. “We’ll play capture the flag between the two islands [Ministers and Blueberry], using kayaks and paddleboards to travel back and forth,” she said. The island has electricity but no running water. Oscar said it was one of his responsibilities to empty the septic pump-out tank after gatherings and while it wasn’t his favorite chore, he didn’t mind the task if it meant time spent with his family.
Spectacle Island is a private island with no dwelling, electricity, or running water.
Sheep Island has four private lots with houses on each. The rest of the island is owned by the Sheep Island Association Trust, which also has a dwelling on the property, bringing the total to five houses. It has electricity and running water from the pond, and most dwellings have compost toilet systems.
—Julie Gowel