HCT’s campaign to save six lots near Pleasant Bay reaches goal

Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) has announced that a $450,000 fundraising campaign to acquire six buildable lots in Harwich has reached its goal. Thanks to generous donations, two upland properties totaling 6.3 acres in the ecologically important Pleasant Bay Watershed have been preserved.

While one-acre buildable lots in this Harwich neighborhood have been selling for around $500,000 apiece, the owners of a 4-acre parcel and 2.3-acre parcel made their properties available to HCT for less than the usual market price. This became an outstanding opportunity to preserve six lots for the price of one.

Both properties are on an unconstructed road called Lady Slipper Lane off Church Street, located amid the triangle of Kendrick Road, Head of the Bay Road (Route 28) and Bay Road. The proposed Lady Slipper Lane was named for rare lady slipper orchids that dot the woodland, which would be lost along with habitat for all sorts of animals if this land was developed.

If the properties weren’t preserved and the land was cleared to pave Lady Slipper Lane, then stormwater runoff along with any septic system effluent could have seeped into the groundwater flowing toward Pleasant Bay.

These parcels are adjacent to the 50-acre HCT Pleasant Bay Woodlands on the north and 100+ acres of town owned land on the south. Preserving this 6.3-acre missing link establishes a vital north-south wildlife habitat corridor.

Pleasant Bay is cherished

The land-saving adventure started last fall when Neil and Anna Rasmussen, who have a home in Harwich, pledged a $200,000 challenge gift. HCT is very grateful for the tremendous support that demonstrates such love for Pleasant Bay.

Donations helped meet the challenge, cover additional project costs, and added to HCT’s stewardship fund so we can take care of the land over time. As longtime stewards of Pleasant Bay, Jamie and Stephania McClennen gave three donations totaling $150,000 to protect the estuary.

The Pleasant Bay Alliance endorsed the land-saving effort. The Friends of Pleasant Bay and The Prospect Hill Foundation contributed grants of $25,000 each. The generosity of folks and groups from across the watershed and beyond shows how much the health of Pleasant Bay means to the community.

Why Judy Miller sold land to HCT

Judy Miller has lived in the same house in Harwich for more than 50 years. She has previously donated 3.5 acres to HCT and thoughtfully decided to sell a 4.3-acre lot to HCT at a generous discount.

Miller, who grew up in New Jersey, arrived on the Cape after her senior year in college. Her goal was simple: make some money and have some fun. But fate turned temporary plans into a beautiful future in Harwich.

One day, while driving along Route 28, Judy gave a ride to a young woman who was hitchhiking to her job at a leather shop in Chatham. “She said, ‘c’mon in and meet the boss,’” recalled Judy. “That’s how I met my husband, John.”

After the summer, Judy returned to college to finish some coursework. Then, she came back to Harwich to stay. John and Judy Miller built a happy life together in the home where she still lives.

A happy life in Harwich

In the early years of their marriage, John ran his Chatham leather shop and Judy ran a jeans shop next door. Then, Judy went back to school to get her master’s degree. She became a teacher at Nauset Middle School in Orleans, a career that spanned 30 years.

Her husband, John Miller, also owned several other area businesses and eventually became widely known as a master barn builder, creating beautiful post and beam structures that grace the Cape Cod landscape. Sadly, John passed away in 2017. John and Judy had been married for 48 years.

During their time together, the Millers had many adventures on their beautiful land in East Harwich. “We had sheep, we had pigs, we had ducks, geese, chickens,” she said. “We had a huge garden out back at one point.”

Cross-country skiing, dog walking and observing nature have also been part of the picture over the years, creating a resonance and sense of place that Judy wants to preserve.

“Saving nature — that’s basically what it is,” said Judy. “It’s part of my nature to want to conserve property for the critters that live here. I just want the land preserved. I don’t want to see it developed.”

Andrea and Tom Story share their history

Andrea and Tom Story also chose to preserve a wooded two-acre parcel with HCT at a generous discount. And they were kind enough to provide a wonderful narrative about the property and their family roots in Harwich. The two-acre parcel, part of a larger property, had been in the Lily family for around 100 years.

It was purchased in the 1920s by Harry S. Vincent and Rebecca Hanna Chase, the great grandparents of the current owner, Andrea Rider Story. Their reason for buying this property was to allow Andrea’s mother, Joan Lily Rider to rehabilitate from a serious tuberculosis infection in her knee when she was a young child. Joan’s family thought her chances of recovery would be better in rural Cape Cod rather than at their home in New Jersey.

Joan recovered and later married Navy pilot Lt. Richard Rider. During the Korean War in 1952, Lt. Rider was shot down over North Korea. Because the other pilots in his squadron did not directly observe his plane striking the ground, Lt. Richard Rider was declared MIA (missing in action) rather than KIA (killed in action).

This tragedy was devastating for Joan Rider, who was living in San Diego with the couple’s four children, including two-month-old Andrea. Under military rules at the time, the government did not pay death benefits for seven years after someone was declared MIA.

So, recently widowed, with four children under the age of 5, unemployed, and with no death benefits Joan Lily Rider moved back east to be closer to her family.

Family memories in Harwich

Andrea developed a special bond with her grandmother, Helen Vincent Lily. All through grade school and high school Andrea would spend her summers with her grandmother in Harwich. Andrea’s fondest childhood memories are from her time on Cape Cod.

She remembers practicing archery in the woods, playing croquet in the backyard and the fact that her grandmother would stand still on the back deck with her hand held out until the chickadees would land on her hand to feed on the seeds.

Andrea and Tom Story contacted HCT in 2024. “Harwich Conservation Trust has been remarkably responsive and easy to work with,” Tom concluded. “We are so happy to have made a small contribution to saving a part of Cape Cod’s natural history.”

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—Your tax-deductible contributions help fulfill the mission of the Harwich Conservation Trust to preserve land that protects woods, water, wildlife and our shared quality of life. And your land-saving financial support helps us preserve beautiful properties that can become stellar trail destinations. Find out how to donate by clicking here.