Natalie Newell – Friends of Benson Park – Secretary since April 2016
For many years, I lived across the street from Benson Park with my husband, Don, and we walked there daily. I started volunteering with the monthly “Park Clean-up” crew from the GFWC Hudson Women’s Club doing some gardening in the Butterfly Garden which I still enjoy doing each month. As a kid growing up in Lowell, MA in the 1960s, our annual school field trips would bring us to “Benson’s Wild Animal Farm” which would become Benson Park many years later. I have fond memories of the animals and the amusement rides and the excitement of going there with a bunch of my classmates. My introduction to the Board was through my good friends Margaret & Mike McQueeney who were involved with volunteering and managing the Benson Park Store for many years. I love the park and enjoy being part of the community and the volunteers who care for it. I look forward to the day when we open the “Benson’s Wild Animal Farm Museum” which will showcase the glory days of this once, world-renowned zoo and amusement park!