Saving Living Room for Living Things SATURDAY SESSIONS HOLIDAY CRAFTS, by Alison Hargreaves, Barrington Middle School BIRD FEEDE
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CF Saving Living Room for Living Things A conservation newsletter published by Citizens for Conservation, Inc. Barrington, Illinois Vol. 3, No. 4 Winter, 1987 SATURDAY SESSIONS HOLIDAY CRAFTS, By Alison Hargreaves, Barrington Middle School It was a sunny Saturday morning in November. At the Crabtree Nature Center a class had begun. God's eyes from yarn woven around twigs, creative critters from thistles, and notecards with pressed flowers were being made by children with the aid of grownups. The crafts were as different as the kids who were there. We could choose from many different natural materials. The ideas sprang from each material. Everybody went home with handfuls of creative makings to be shown to their families and used at holiday time. BIRD FEEDERS FROM RECYCLED MATERIALS, By Stephanie Hargreaves, 1st Grade, Countryside School We went to Crabtree Nature Center to make bird feeders. We made them from things we sometimes throw away. We made feeders from milk cartons, detergent bottles, small logs, and empty grapefruit halves. And we strung popcorn, cranberries, and peanuts to hang on the trees outside. We learned how to hang suet outside so the birds can eat it and keep warm. At the end we sat by the window and watched the birds. ANIMAL TRACKS, By Kristin Gruber, 5th Grade, Hough Street School The January class at Crabtree was all about tracking. At first, we talked about how to identify different animal tracks. We learned some new words like "register", gait", and "bound". After looking at some mystery tracks on slides and identifying the owner of each of the prints, we made some tracks of our own. We used stamps and made imprints with plaster of Paris. Finally, we went out to find some real tracks. Fortunately, it was such a cold day that Crabtree didn't have many visitors, so it was easy to find animal tracks -- such as deer, squirrel, and bird tracks -- all over. ANNUAL MEETING, January 29 Over 100 CFC members and friends gathered at the Barrington Hills Country Club for the annual meeting. The theme for the fifteenth anniversary of the organization was "CFC: Where We've Been, Where We're Going". Bill Miller presented a short history of CFC, beginning in 1970, when CFC's progenitor, the "Barrington Area Conservation Committee", was formed. A copy of the history is filed at the CFC office. President Paul Hoffman reviewed projects and activities of 1986. Highlights included: move of the recycling center to the west end of Liberty Street acquisition of Steyermark woods in North Barrington and a 9-acre marsh along Route 14 west of Kelsey Road prescribed burn of the Wagner Fen in early spring by a consortium of volunteers, led by volunteer stewards, George and Becky Luehring; establishment of a wooden plank walk in the fen, laid by George Luehring expanded offering of nature study classes for children and adults and a series of summer field explorations in local natural areas vigorous first year of prairie restoration project, in which over 70 volunteers collected 94 pounds of native prairie seed (see prairie article) first fund-raising drive by CFC to raise money for the prairie restoration computerizing of CFC mailing list, thanks to Jeanette Muench participation in the Fourth of July parade, Sidewalk Days, and the Barrington Historical Society's Treescapes After a short slide presentation about the prairie restoration project, Waid Vanderpoel explained the project in detail. He underscored the importance of volunteers and offered a vivid description of the experience of a volunteer seed collector in the expressed hope of attracting more harvesters. CF gyms Citizens for Conservation, Inc. CHANGING BOARD Three active contributors have retired from the CFC Board. Net Mullen has faced the ongoing challenges of stewardship as the chairman of the Stewardship Committee. She also has served as a member of the Real Estate Committee. Ray Kath chaired the Prairie Committee in its first ambitious year of the prairie restoration project. Ray has served also as an active member of the Stewardship Committee. Betsy Petersen leaves behind a record of conscientious service as Secretary of CFC. She helped rewrite the by-laws and has served regularly on the Nominating and Annual Meeting Committees. These board members will be succeeded by Mark Spreyer, Education Coordinator at the Chicago Academy of Science and coordinator of the Chicago peregrine falcon release project; Daria Sapp, who made uncountable phone calls as volunteer coordinator of the prairie project; and Margaret Fox- Hawthorne, active member of the CFC Education Committee, board member of Prairie Woods Audubon, and frequent contributor of articles to conservation publications. Instead of continuing as CFC board members, Jonathan Hamill and Bob Kosin will serve as board consultants. The following will hold offices for 1987: Paul Hoffman, President; Walt Dalitsch, Vice-President; Dave Kullander, Treasurer; Sue Allman, Secretary. thank you ****** thank you ****** thank you ****** thank you ****** thank you - Daria Sapp, for coordinating prairie project volunteers. -- George Luehring, for faithful Tuesday morning help in the CFC office. - - Tom and Ruth Vanderpoel, for hours of stuffing envelopes for the membership/ prairie project mailing. -- Mr. and Mrs. Tom Longeway, owners of Classic Sunglasses, for donating nine acres of marsh to CFC. - - Henry Gron, Linda Coady, Mark Vanderpoel, and Jennifer Polasek, for illustrating the prairie brochure, map, and this newsletter. - - Susan Hargreaves, for teaching several classes in the Saturday and Summer Sessions. - - Crabtree Nature Center, for providing classrooms. -- Becky Luehring and Beulah Peirce, for helping to label newsletters. - - Many volunteers who helped pick seed, burn the fen, and otherwise participated in restoration and stewardship efforts. CF Fce14,s Citizens for Conservation, Inc. WILLIAM H. MILLER CONSERVATION AWARD This award is given "in recognition of outstanding contribution to conservation in the Barrington area." This year, the recipient was Bunny Horne, long-time resident of Barrington and a founding member of Citizens for Conservation. In presenting the award, Frank Spreyer cited Bunny's active involvement on behalf of conservation in numerous clubs and organizations. She served as president of the Camp Reinberg Association, which brought inner city children to a natural setting and organized activities they normally would not experience. She helped found and presided over the League of Women Voters, a group that maintains active interest in conservation issues. Bunny was instrumental in hiring the first nature teacher at Country Day School (now Countryside) -- the beginning of the Nature Lady program which has expanded to include the entire school district. In 1973 she was honored with the prestigious Garden Club of America Zone XI Conservation Award for outstanding contribution to conservation locally, state-wide, and nationally. Frank concluded that Bunny's countryside property is testimony to careful management, and respect for plants and wildlife. "Hers," he said, "is a life of Photo courtesy of Barrington Courier Review conservation by example." RECYCLING After many years of dedicated chairmanship of the Recycling Committee, Frank Spreyer has elected to hand that position over to Bill McMullen. Frank has seen the recycling center through three moves, three haulers, fires, vandalism -- but thanks to his supervision, it continues to operate 24 hours a day. Since the move to the west end of Liberty Street, volume has fallen off considerably. While newspapers usually must be picked up twice a week, recently the need has dropped to one pick-up every twelve days. Eighty-three tons of glass from Barrington were recycled in 1986 -- just over half the amount of the previous year. The League of Women Voters is formulating plans for recycling education, and has enlisted the cooperation of CFC. CHECK OFF LINE hla When preparing your state income tax forms, you can contribute to the Illinois Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund -- up to $10 Check individually or $20 on joint returns. Write the dollar amount of your contribution next to your checkoff on lla. Doing so US will NOT delay your refund. If you're not receiving a refund 01It or wish to further help Illinois wildlife, you can send a tax- deductible check to Illinois Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund, Illinois Department of Conservation, 524 S. Second St., Springfield, IL 62706. Locally, this fund has helped pay for nesting structures on the island in Baker's Lake and for workshops on the eastern bluebird. A free bluebird workshop will be held on March 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Veterans' Acres Nature Center in Crystal Lake. Call 815-675-2385 for registration and information. Two new brochures, also funded by non- game wildlife donations, are available free from the Illinois Department of Conservation, at the above address. They are "Landscaping for Wildlife", a 12-page booklet of ideas and plant species for backyard habitat; and "Wood Projects for Illinois Wildlife", 34 pages of workshop projects, including bluebird and screech owl houses. CFC,iv ews Citizens for Conservation, Inc. CONSERVATION ARTICLE We frequently get questions about the Natural History of Barrington -- what is it? when did it begin? what kinds of programs does it offer? We asked Barb Day to look into the background of this group that has been active in Barrington for over 40 years, and she graciously agreed. Barb herself knew little of the society. After several months of sifting through boxes of minutes and clippings, she expressed gratitude for the opportunity to "get a perspective on what I believe is one of the basic fibers of this community. The Natural History Society has been an important, quiet, strong undercurrent in Barrington; a caretaker of those things that are the reason many members of this community chose to live here." She was surprised, too, to find that her uncle, Jack Weidenmiller, was a member and served as secretary during the 60's.