http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2008-11/travel/dogtown/all
https://www.google.com/search?q=dogtown+ma&hl=en&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=rpCyUJCzFNK_0QHbo4DgDg&sqi=2&ved=0CAQQ_AUoAA&biw=1024&bih=558
and was impressed by the words carved into huge granite boulders scattered about the woods in this wild 5-mile-wide area of Gloucester.
Even more than the words themselves, though, I liked the story of how they got there.
Roger Babson was a philanthropist who donated a reservoir and the nearby land of Dogtown to the City of Gloucester. He also hired out-of-work stonecutters during the Depression to do the work of carving 26 boulders. A one-man WPA!
Anyone looking for guidance, inspiration, or a dope-slap could find it among the sayings.
There are the advice boulders:
GET A JOB
STAY OUT OF DEBT
HELP MOTHER
BE ON TIME
THINK
SAVE
STUDY
BE TRUE
BE CLEAN
and the values boulders:
LOYALTY
INTELLIGENCE
COURAGE
INITIATIVE
INDUSTRY
SPIRITUAL POWER
KINDNESS
INTEGRITY
TRUTH
WORK
IDEAS
IDEALS
and the inspiring phrases boulders:
IF WORK STOPS VALUES DECAY
NEVER TRY NEVER WIN
USE YOUR HEAD
PROSPERITY FOLLOWS SERVICE
and my favorite:
WALK THE WORDS
Scrambling around in the woods, up and down the narrow paths, discovering each monument, was a nice way for me to absorb the messages over a couple of hours.
If I could suggest another boulder to be carved, it would say, simply:
HAVE FUN
