A beloved community park in the East Walpole neighborhood that will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2025 recently got a facelift by The Trustees of Reservations. The 89-acre Francis William Bird Park is now more accessible and has many improvements thanks to generous financial support from Walpole natives Mike and Susan White, local residents, area companies, and descendants of the Bird family.
The improvements to the park include a newly accessible entrance off Polley Lane, improvement of pedestrian pathways, renewal of basketball and pickleball courts, new playground equipment, new tree plantings, and creation of a shady picnic area.
The park was created and endowed in 1925 by local industrialist Charles Sumner Bird, Sr., and his wife Anna in memory of their oldest son Francis William Bird, who died of pneumonia at age 37 in 1918. The Birds created the park for their employees’ leisure and recreation. It was designed by John Nolen, a disciple of Frederick Law Olmsted, America’s most famed landscape architect. Nolen believed that parks should provide relaxation and respite in nature for urban residents. The Trustees were gifted the park in 2003 by the Francis William Bird Park Trust.
Mike and Susan White of Osterville are Walpole natives who grew up near the park and were frequent visitors, riding their bikes as children through the park, and later watching their own children play soccer games at the park.
After a successful business career, including stints as the chairman of PepsiCo International Limited and as the president, chairman and CEO of DIRECTV, White and his wife Susan wanted to give back to Walpole, where they both grew up. Mike’s grandfather, like many Walpole residents, worked for the Bird family’s paper, boxes, and materials company, Bird and Sons, and lived across the street from the park, as did Susan’s mother. The Whites made a multi-year gift to The Trustees’ Momentum campaign in 2020 to revitalize the park and restore it to its former glory.
“Walpole shaped us both growing up, we got married in Walpole, we raised kids in Walpole, and this just seemed like a wonderful way to give back to the community,” White said. “We were excited to help refresh parts of the park and carry on the Bird family’s passion for preservation and open space.”
With just a few minor touches left to do, the renovations will be complete in time for the 100th anniversary celebration of Bird Park in 2025 being planned by the Town of Walpole.
