I was horrified to find used needles on the ground at Mill Park by the river. I was so excited to bring my two granddaughters to see the “mighty Kennebec.” We went down the metal stairs by the parking area to get closer to the river. I wasn’t overly surprised to see garbage. Some people are just pigs. Carry it down full but can’t be bothered bringing it back up empty. Well, in the 20 feet or so to get next to the river my 12-year-old granddaughter says, “Grandma, what’s this?” I turned around to see her holding a syringe! After explaining to her how dangerous picking it up could be, I carefully kicked it closer to a tree so it would be less likely to be stepped on. Thank our God that she didn’t step on it and have it go through her flip flop!

The next thing was climbing back up to the parking lot level we saw a young woman coming out of the woods to the side of the lookout. Didn’t think too much of it until I walked on farther and noticed a blue tarp set up in the woods. I then realized it was a homeless person that was living there. My heart ached.

In what should have been a glorious walk in the park was instead an eye opening and very sad experience for the three of us. Harder to understand for the 11- and 12-year-old.

Bjorg Boschen

Manchester