Woods near city pond memorialize late Hugh Gregg

NASHUA – A beloved native son who went on to become an alderman, mayor and governor is now memorialized near where he and his wife raised their family in a rural corner of the city.

The woods around Lovewell’s Pond are to be known as the Gov. Hugh Gregg Memorial Conservation area.

“This would mean a great deal to him,” said Gregg’s widow, Catherine “Cay” Gregg. “It is a great honor,” she said in the aldermanic chamber in City Hall, where a black-and-white photo of her husband hangs along with all the other mayors in the city’s history.

Gregg, who also served as a military intelligence officer, a political operative for Republican presidential hopefuls and an advocate for the state’s primary, among other responsibilities, died Sept. 24. He also served as the grand marshal for the city’s sesquicentennial parade.

Pines, birches and other trees encircle the pond, now covered with ice and snow.

It is popular place for residents walking their dogs or for ice-skaters. Beavers leave their mark on trees near the water’s edge.

Gregg’s office for New Hampshire Resources Inc., a publishing firm, sits a short walk from the edge of the pond, with the family home across Gregg Road.

The pond sits virtually in the family’s back yard. The Greggs moved to the southwest part of the city in the 1947 when few homes were erected west of the F.E. Everett Turnpike. “It was part of our life,” said Cay Gregg about the pond.

Lovewell’s Pond became city-owned in 1999 when it was among the tracts of land donated by real estate company Terre Verde. It is bordered by Main Dunstable, Gregg, and Ridge roads, and the state line.

Another area near the pond is named the Samuel A. Tamposi Memorial Park, on behalf of the influential developer who shaped much of current Nashua.Gregg and a son, Cy, attended the last aldermanic meeting of the legislative year where the aldermen endorsed the legislation in a voice vote.

Mayor Bernie Streeter and Ward 5 Alderman Brian McCarthy, the lead sponsor of the legislation designating the memorial, read a mayoral proclamation designating the area in Gregg’s name.

The conservation designation is appropriate, McCarthy said.

“He was very fond of the area around Lovewell’s Pond,” McCarthy said.

Gregg lived in McCarty’s ward. In a light-hearted moment, the aldermen said Gregg had given him $50 for an election when he was unchallenged. The election cost him $35, giving him the only political war chest he ever had, McCarthy said.

Cy Gregg said his father had a great interest in land conservation, especially tied to the sense of what makes New Hampshire such a special place.

Hugh Gregg was active with the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, donating vast areas of forest to remain forever wild, said Gregg.

Also, the Greggs participated in a land conservation group in Dunstable, Mass. Their property sits astride the state line.