To the editor:

As a Portsmouth resident, with a deep appreciation for town history and beautiful open spaces, it was exciting to see a project come together for the repair of the 100-plus-year-old stonewalls lining Linden Lane. And, it was open to the public to volunteer with the repair process while learning the art of dry stone walling (no cement).  Taking the time to thank those that were involved:

We were instructed by the friendly, knowledgeable, and capable stonemason, Rob Faraone, a member of The Stone Trust of Vermont (whose members could not attend due to Covid travel-related issues); and also the new program, Aquidneck Stone Wall Initiative, a partnership of The Preservation Society of Newport County and Preserve Rhode Island. 

Thank you, Donna Dunn of the Preservation Society and Valerie Talmadge of Preserve Rhode Island. Valerie and her program coordinator, Grace Gielink, even put on the gloves and got dirty with nine other trainees during the initial eight hours of instruction (one hour of classroom in the field and seven hours of “walling”). 

Thank you, van Beuren Charitable Foundation for the financial support. Only Rob and his capable helper Jay appeared to be on the payroll, showing up every day for seven weeks, regardless of how many volunteers came. 

An extra-large thank-you goes out to the 23 other volunteers who signed up for eight hours of training and a commitment to work another 21 hours, especially those not from Portsmouth, who drove from other parts of the state and from Massachusetts for our benefit.  There were only five or six of us from town — rather disappointing — but the real letdown was the lack of involvement from the town itself.

While I know Town Administrator Rich Rainer is committed to getting the walls repaired, and I want to thank him as well, the commitment seems to be constrained by a small budget, which relies heavily on supplement money from non-town-related sources. I get it. But, a solution could have been to give DPW employees the opportunity to work alongside us and to pick up some of Rob’s knowledge and skills. They did deliver stones as needed, but little else that I am aware of. They did occasionally drive by; you’ve probably seen them driving around with a load of tar every Wednesday, searching high and low for potholes. Surely, this man could have learned something beneficial from Mr. Faraone. 

Hopefully, this process will continue again next year, as volunteers helped repair 463 linear feet of the mile or so of wall up to the Brown House (at this pace, repairs will take 10 years). Oh, and Portsmouth: Please put up signs to help keep folks off of the walls.

Dave Gleason 

63 Massasoit Ave.

Portsmouth