Update (12/23/24): Monday’s bright sun revealed a previously hidden message under the snow: It said in 9-foot tall letters, “LET THEM SLED,” written out in pieces of broken fence poles.

LET THEM SLED elm bank — Message revealed by melting snow: LET THEM SLED

We were surprised/not surprised to see on Sunday morning at Elm Bank Reservation that people were sledding a day after MassHort and local police stopped people from doing so in the wake of the area’s first decent snow of the season, as first reported in The Swellesley Report.

Fencing around the area had been torn down and cars were parked along the road. A local TV reporter whowas snooping around and later filed a segment naturally neglected to cite the original source of this story.

A bunch of people have commented on our original post and on social media following our report.

A man from one family sledding on the hill said they are from Holliston and had come to the park to take some photos and sled, unaware that there was any sort of ban on doing so. We returned in the afternoon to do some cross-country skiing and the hill was vacant, perhaps due to the frigid temps.

MassHort, which has its headquarters at Elm Bank on Rte. 16 on the Wellesley/Dover/Natick line, was preventing people from using the popular sledding hill to protect the area where it has now begun planting tulips, sunflowers, and more as part of seasonal events. What’s more, that area is protected by electric fencing that could shred sledders.

Elm Bank fence down, sledding — Flattened electric fence

While we were at the site people were sledding on the left side of the hill away from where that fencing is situated.

Elm Bank regulars in recent months have already been reaching out to State Rep. David Linsky about the fencing, which makes it dicey to walk, run or bike around the park’s ring road. Pedestrians and cyclists have less of a shoulder to use when large vehicles pass by.

Rep. Linsky, in a phone call on Sunday, told us that he paid a visit to Elm Bank on Sunday to survey the situation, including a few hundred yards of downed fence and a handful of sledders. He was contacted by “lots of neighbors” once the snow came.

“I’m not in favor of someone using ‘self-help and knocking down the fence. That’s the wrong way to do things,” Linsky said. “But we’ll see how MassHort reacts.”

Linsky has been in touch with a DCR commissioner, who said MassHort will need a permit to re-establish the fence. That process should enable a meeting of the minds between himself, DCR, MassHort, and perhaps neighbors to come up with “a compromise acceptable to everyone.”

We’ve reached out to MassHort’s director to see if there has been any change in the organization’s approach to the hill.

MassHort has a dollar-a-year, 99-year lease on Elm Bank that began in 1996, with the organization agreeing to make upgrades to the property as part of the agreement. MassHort’s agreement is with the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation: “We are reaching out to the Mass Horticultural Society to address the recent events that took place over the weekend to ensure safe public access at the Elm Bank Reservation. We are committed to ensuring that the needs of the community are met, including opportunities for traditional activities and access to spaces that make the reservation special. We look forward to working closely with the Mass Horticultural Society and local elected officials to address these concerns.”