"Walking is Life!" - Judy
If you live in The Pinehills, you know Judy Froman, and chances are you've seen her out on the trails. Maybe you've waved, maybe you've walked a stretch together, maybe you've just seen her moving through the pines at a pace that suggests she has somewhere to be. She does. But trail walks are a priority for her every day.
Judy is the Executive Director of the Pinehills Landowners Association and General District. That title covers a lot of ground, literally and otherwise. She and her team run the Stonebridge Club, support 80+ neighbor-led clubs and activities, manage the contractors who maintain the grounds, and handle the daily realities of a place where more than 7,000 people live. She's been doing it for over 17 years.
But ask Judy what she'd show you first and she'll take you on the trails.
The Pinehills spans five square miles, larger than some Massachusetts towns, and only one-third of the land is built upon. The rest is open space and recreation, with pine forest, kettle ponds, and rolling terrain shaped by glaciers thousands of years ago. More than 10 miles of trails wind through it all, linking neighborhoods to woods, historic byways, the Village Green, and each other. Some are paved and lit. Others, like Old Sandwich Road, Judy's favorite, are more rustic, following routes that have been here for centuries. Along the way, you'll find benches dedicated to friends and loved ones by neighbors.
Judy calls the trails the most used amenity in The Pinehills, and it's not hard to see why. They're how neighbors connect. They're where people go to clear their heads, start their mornings, or just slow down. For Judy, who walks them most days, the trails are where she notices the light shifting in October, where she watches the terrain change with the seasons, and where she reconnects with the beauty of the place after a long day of managing it. (She also notices downed limbs, roots, and other things that need fixing, but she tries to discipline her mind to "only think about work for half" of her walk.)
We walked with Judy recently and captured the conversation on camera. In three short films, she talks about what the trails mean to her, why Old Sandwich Road is the one she keeps coming back to, and what the dedicated benches along the way represent to the people who sponsored them. We even got her to sit on a bench, but if you know Judy, you know that was strictly for the cameras. Not much sitting happens in her day!
