By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Needham Parks and Recreation held an open invitation to the Needham Reservoir on the morning of Saturday, May 18th. Families and friends gathered together for the Rollie’s Family Fishing Festival (RFFF) in which they could spend a relaxing morning fishing.
The Needham Reservoir, which was stocked with rainbow trout prior to the RFFF, was constructed back in 1903. A sign located on the trail in front of the Reservoir states, “It was created to help charge the public water supply wells, which were located on the opposite side of the basin, and became the Needham Water Works. In addition to its technical use as a reservoir, it also provided additional fire protection to this section of Town. The Reservoir is about five feet deep, and has primarily been used for recreational purposes since the 1950s, including fishing, ice skating, hoking, and canoeing.”
With the newly built accessible trail created back in 2017, this was the perfect location for this type of event. Kiddos and their families could be seen all around the Reservoir, hoping to reel in any fish that they could.
Director of Needham Parks and Rec, Stacey Mulroy, lent a helping hand throughout the festival. “This fishing festival has been going on,” Mulroy stated, “for over 20 years now. Mass Fish and Wildlife donated some rods for us to use and we have some bait from the Natick Outdoor Store. We just let people go and enjoy themselves. Sometimes we have to give people a hand and sometimes they do great on their own. Either way, we are always here to help. We have some stickers to hand out to the kids and Mass Wildlife gave us pamphlets to give to everyone as well.”
While the weather was a bit rainy early on, it increasingly got better throughout the morning. All in all, the day went over extremely well, with everyone having a blast. Many little ones could be seen learning how to fish for the first time, or returning for this event year after year.
For more information about upcoming Needham Parks and Rec programs like this one, please visit their website at www.needhamma.gov/5134/Park-Recreation.
