Since I live in a vacation spot – the South Shore of Massachusetts – I’m often asked what season is the best for a visit.

The sparkling days of summer, when the beaches are warm and the days long? Love it. The winter days of snow, bundling up and early night star gazing? It’s a special time as well.

But there’s one season I tell everyone to focus on for a visit: Cranberry season. From mid-September through the end of October, the Bay State shines even more. With awe-inducing foliage, the tilt of the earth slanting the sun’s rays in a way that just makes the ocean, ponds, lakes and sky even bluer, “sweater weather,” and less humidity – this is the place and time to be.

The cranberry harvest gives it all the exclamation point of beauty. Rosy red berries floating in a blue pond, surrounded by vibrant colored trees? It’s just perfection, and an experience you cannot have just anywhere.

Massachusetts isn’t the top cranberry producer in the nation – at just under 30% of the total crop coming from the Bay State, we’re just behind Wisconsin for that. But when it comes to ways to savor the Cranberry Harvest season, Massachusetts may just have them all beat. Consider these adventures:

Ride past them: There are so many safe, well-maintained and easy-to-ride bike paths in Massachusetts. Take the Cape Cod Rail Trail and you’ll spot some bogs along the way. Or, sign yourself up for the Cranberry Century Ride (https://www.crw.org/Centuries), a multi-distance choice bike ride held by the Charles River Wheelers this year on Oct. 15.

You can go anywhere from a very doable 29 miles up to a full 100. You started and finish at Plymouth’s beautiful Myles Standish State Forest and then loop out to Mattapoisett and back, passing many a bog and other sites. Each distance is led by a team leader, and you’re well taken care of with sustenance and support at break stops along the way. Pre-registration is required.

Golf over them: (And hopefully not into them). More than a few Massachusetts golf courses offer peeks at bogs, but no place puts you up close more than Souther’s Marsh Golf Club (https://southersmarsh.com) in Plymouth.

The executive course was built around and through bogs that have been producing cranberries for longer than most can remember. During harvest season you’ll play up along (and sometimes over) bogs in the process of harvesting. And should you get lucky and there’s a wedding that week, you may even see their signature move: floating cranberries in the shape of a heart.

Get right into them: What better way to celebrate, view and learn about cranberries than getting right in there and working a bog? Sign on for the Cranberry Bogger for a Day program curated by Keolis Mass Adventures (https://keolismassadventures.com). You’ll board a train at South Station in Boston and head to Benson’s Pond in Middleboro where for two solid hours, you’ll don your waders and work the bog, using antique harvesting tools, picking fresh cranberries, and enjoying cranberry-inspired snacks and beverages.

Should you want to get up close but not as wet, they also offer walking tours of bogs. Preregistration is required and spots fill up fast.

Celebrate them: Harvest Fairs are the happening of the season and cranberries get in on the fun. Edaville Railroad (https://edaville.com) celebrates Oct. 12 and 13 with a flea market, craft fair, steam train rides past bogs, live music and more. Family friendly to the max.

Pick and cook them: Massachusetts is home to 300+ cranberry farmers, 14,000+ acres of cranberry bogs, and 65,000+ acres of associated open space. Sounds like a lot to take on, but luckily we have the non-profit Massachusetts Cranberries (https://www.cranberries.org) on our side.

Operating since 1988, the organization supports the industry and also offers, via their website, the history of the crop – a cool thing to understand before savoring the season.

Their website lists bog tours across the state, spots you can get fresh berries and other season fruit, special events around the harvest and even better: tried and true recipes so you can take the berries home and pay the love forward.

Enrique Delgado-Garcia, 25, died at a hospital on Friday, a day after the exercise at the Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree, department spokesperson Tim McGuirk said in a statement Friday night. New Braintree is about 80 miles northeast of Boston.

McGuirk said the academy’s on-site medical team responded immediately after Delgado-Garcia became unresponsive. They determined that he required urgent medical care and took him to the hospital.

Such police training can cover a range of physical encounters to defend against tackles, punches and other attacks. McGuirk’s statement did not specify the type of exercise Delgado-Garcia took part in. He did not immediately respond Saturday to further questions about that or whether Delgado-Garcia was injured.

“The matter is under review and the review has been active and ongoing since we were notified of the incident on Thursday,” Lindsay Corcoran, a spokesperson for the Worcester County District Attorney’s office, said in a statement Saturday. Delgado-Garcia once worked as a victim witness advocate in that office.

Delgado-Garcia’s mother told reporters with NBC10 Boston and Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra that he was hit and injured.

“I don’t understand why it was so rough if it was just training,” Sandra Garcia said in Spanish. “I want them to explain it to me, that the state explains to me what happened with my son. … Why did he hit him so hard that it killed him, that it destroyed his brain and broke all of my son’s teeth and he had a neck fracture too, my son.”

Col. John Mawn Jr. of the state police said in a statement that his department “is committed to providing support and resources to Trainee Delgado-Garcia’s family, friends, and fellow academy recruits in the coming days and weeks as they cope with this unimaginable loss.”

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey issued a statement saying she was heartbroken about the loss of Delgado-Garcia.

“He was a beloved member of his academy class, known for his compassion and devotion to service. This is a devastating time for all who knew and loved him, and we are holding Enrique’s family and his State Police community in our hearts,” she said.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

The State Police recruit severely injured in a boxing “training exercise” has died, the MSP announced late Friday night.

Enrique Delgado-Garcia, 25, “tragically passed away following a medical crisis suffered” Thursday at the New Braintree Academy, the agency announced.

His death is being investigated by the Worcester DA’s office, according to multiple reports. He died at UMass Medical Center in Worcester after being injured at the State Police New Braintree training center.

“Despite the heroic efforts of medical professionals to deliver lifesaving care, Trainee Delgado-Garcia died at the hospital,” the agency added.

State Police Col. John E. Mawn Jr. said Friday night Delgado-Garcia was a member of the 90th Recruit Training Troop and came to the agency after serving as a victim witness advocate in the Worcester District Attorney’s Office.

“The Massachusetts State Police grieves the tragic loss of Trainee Enrique Delgado-Garcia, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. They have the full measure of our support and care, and they remain full members of our State Police Family,” Mawn said.

He added: “In his short time with the State Police, Enrique demonstrated an extraordinary capacity to learn and a desire to deliver excellent police services to the people of Massachusetts. He made an immediate impression on his classmates and the Academy Staff. By all accounts, Enrique possessed and displayed all the qualities that would have made him an outstanding Trooper: kindness and compassion, dedication, commitment, willingness to work hard to improve himself, and a strong desire help others.”

The agency did not go into any detail about the nature or severity of his injuries.

They did say Delgado-Garcia “became unresponsive” during the training exercise Thursday. “The Academy’s on-site medical team, which includes dedicated staff from UMass Medical, responded immediately and rendered aid. The medical team determined that Delgado-Garcia required urgent medical care and transported him via Ambulance to a local medical facility” where he was reportedly put on life-support.

The MSP has a boxing team, with a show last month, and the boxing training was reinstated at the academy to teach would-be troopers how to defend themselves if they get into hand-to-hand combat out on patrol.

The Massachusetts State Police Boxing Team also has social-media sites on X, formerly Twitter, and on Facebook where they advertise “Saturday Night at the Fights” events.

The Facebook page says the group is “the only State Police Boxing Team in the country.” They also host boxing events for charity.

Originally Published: September 13, 2024 at 11:17 p.m.