MARION — Meredith Mattson-Days has been going to Washburn Park for decades, from horse shows when she was little to coaching Old Rochester Regional High School cross country in recent years.

Now, Mattson-Days goes to the property as the president of the Charles R. Washburn Memorial Trust. She was voted in as the Washburn Trust’s president in August 2023, taking over the position from her father, Wayne Mattson.

Formed in 1955, the trust owns an approximately 16-acre portion of Washburn Park that encompasses woodlands, a field, a cookhouse and two horse rings. The area, adjacent to town-owned park and conservation land, hosts the Marion Horse Show, a Fourth of July tradition entering its 77th year in 2024.

In addition to maintaining the property, the Washburn Trust has “a vision forward of things” it can do with the park, according to trust member Anthony Days, Mattson-Days’ husband.

“Overall, it’s gone from a place where people can dump their television or their mattress to a park that’s useful and really needs to just be loved, have people come out and enjoy it,” Days said. “There’s a sense of community out here too.”

The trust is looking to further revitalize the park with some new events, like potential concerts or food trucks, according to Mattson-Days.

“There’s so many things you can do down here, and then we want to try to make it even more useful,” Days said.

For Mattson-Days, the property is a natural area of trees and animals for everyone to enjoy, a swath of land where one can pick a path and walk through the woods.

Last fall, the Washburn Trust planted daffodils throughout the park. On the morning of Saturday, April 6, Mattson-Days and Days cleaned up vegetation around the property.

And while the park abounds with horses when the Fourth of July arrives, it has also become a welcome site for dog owners.

Mattson-Days said she, her father and others routinely gather there with their dogs.

“This is kind of the town’s little meeting area for people,” she said.

Days said he loves seeing older people come to walk their dogs through the wilderness.

“When you see an older person walking their dog in the woods, that’s so cool,” he said.

Many people though might not actually realize what the property offers or that the park even exists, according to Mattson-Days.

“You see it, but you don’t really see it until you take the paths, and I think a little more people are starting to realize what there is here,” she said.