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News Briefs Private Businesses Join Public Cultural Activities Dispelling the theory that Chicago does not promote itself, several major downtown businesses participated in the promotion of one of this city's finest cultural assets — Grant Park Concerts. These concerts were founded in 1934 by the newly incorporated Chicago Park District in order to provide entertainment of high artistic merit to the citizens of depression-ridden Chicago. The concerts were completely funded by the park district until 1977 when a group of private citizens established the Grant Park Concerts Society to support the series beyond the allocated budget. This year cooperation between the concerts and businesses began with the planning of the one-day celebration of SummerStage '82. Formal announcement of the date — June 26 — was made at a press reception at the Midland Hotel in the heart of the business community at Adams and LaSalle Street. The hotel, by its location and its long-standing commitment to support of the central city, symbolizes the partnership established between financial organizations and cultural agencies. SummerStage was sponsored by Mayor Byrne's Office of Special Events with assistance from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, Division of Tourism. The activities scheduled offered more than 16 forms of free family entertainment in the loop. Events other than the Chicago Park District's concert at the Petrillo Music Shell included activities sponsored by Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co., the State Street Council, Marshall Fields, Wiebolt's, Charles A. Stevens, the League of Theaters, First National Bank and Berghoff's. Completing its 48th season. Grant Park Concerts offer Chicago one of the best music festivals in the country. The Grant Park Symphony is a professional orchestra with over 75 members and the Chorus is a 130 member ensemble with a core of 40 professional choristers. In addition to the symphonic repertoire, the public enjoys a variety of music including opera, ballet, choral, vocal, and "pops."
Dana-Thomas House Open The Dana-Thomas House, the Department of Conservation's newest state historic site located at Fourth and Lawrence streets in Springfield, was officially opened to the public this summer. The Frank Lloyd Wright designed house was built for Susan Lawrence Dana in 1903-04, and is considered by many experts to be the most intact example of Wright's "Prairie House" architecture remaining. The house was purchased by the State of Illinois in 1981. The house is open for public visitation on each Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Group tours are available beginning at 9 a.m. and run at 20 minute intervals with the last tour scheduled to start at 4:20 p.m.
Selling Illinois To Illinoisans Promotes Tourism "Selling Illinois to Illinoisans" is the motivation that brought together the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) and Polk Bros., Inc. to promote this state's tourism attractions. Polk Bros., Inc., a Chicago-area retail home furnishings chain, is running spot radio advertisements throughout the Chicago listening area urging people to discover the wonders that lie along the magnificent miles of Illinois. The ads also invite people to visit one of their 15 Chicagoland locations and pick up one or all of the Illinois Office of Tourism's "Good Times Guides" to Illinois. The Office of Tourism, a division of DCCA, delivered to Polk Bros. guides to southern, western, eastern and northern Illinois. Also delivered were sets of "Good Times Guides" glossy posters, "Magnificent Miles of Illinois" bumper stickers, "Calendar of Illinois Events" and promotional inserts. All are free to the public. There are actually five guides in all, highlighting the four regions of the state and Chicago. The slick-covered, full-colored booklets detail attractions throughout each region, list hotels and restaurants and provide travelers needed information on how and where to spend an enjoyable day, weekend or week in Illinois. DCCA invites any company or business that wishes to distribute Illinois tourism information to call Peter B. Fox at 217-782-2241. Fox said all the guides, stickers and posters are free and can be picked up at the five statewide Welcome Centers, at tourism offices in Chicago and Springfield, and airline counters throughout Illinois. Illinois Parks and Recreation 36 November/December 1982 "People from Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri. Ohio, Kentucky and Minnesota know that a great vacation spot lies just a couple hundred miles from their doorsteps," Fox said. "These are our prime target areas and it's obvious by the great response we received from distribution of materials that many people are interested in our state." Annual Seed Collection
The Department of Conservation is purchasing limited amounts of tree and shrub seed from the public, but there's a new twist to the annual program, according to Al Mickelson, chief of the Department's Division of Forest Resources and Natural Heritage. Seed collectors this year must obtain a permit in order to sell seed to the state, Mickelson said. Issuance of the free permits will improve Department control of seed collection and purchasing activities, he said. The seeds are used at the Conservation Department's Union County and Mason County nurseries to grow seedling trees and shrubs for use in conservation plantings on both public and private lands throughout the state. Each year, the Department raises up to 7.5 million seedlings. Mickelson said the permits, available beginning Sept. 15 at 22 seed collection depots across the state, specify the species and amounts DOC will buy, the prices it will pay, and the deadline for delivery of the seed to the collection center. Seed species being sought include wild crabapple, white oak, black walnut, hazelnut, hickory, wild plum, pin oak and red oak.
Volks Walks Conducted At State Parks In Illinois
Family-oriented "Governor's Volks Walks,"aimed at spotlighting trail and interpretive programs offered at Illinois Department of Conservation properties, were conducted at four state parks during October. Hikers are shown using one of the trails provided for the walks. Purpose of the outings was to provide viewing of fall colors in four strategically-located parks, and on each site's uniqueness. Each park was selected because it was within a day's easy drive from a metropolitan area. The DOC outings are patterned after the organized "volks (people) walks" through the countryside popularized in Germany as interesting and inexpensive means for families to enjoy that country's public lands. The walks were held at the following places: Oct. 2 — Moraine Hills State Park, McHenry; Oct. 9 — Illinois Beach State Park, Zion; Oct. 10 — Beall Woods State Park, Mt. Carmel; and Oct. 24 — Lincoln's New Salem State Park, near Petersburg. Participants were asked to check-in at the parks between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Guided walks were slated at 10 a.m. and certificates were presented to hikers completing the course. For further details on the fall color walks or on the Conservation Department's winter and spring schedule of Volks Walks, contact Baumgras at (217) 782-6752 or by writing in care of the Department of Conservation, Lands and Historic Sites, 524 S. Second Street, Springfield, IL 62706. For information on the health benefits of Volks Walking, write: Illinois Governor's Council on Health and Fitness, 535 W. Jefferson, Springfield, IL 62701. Illinois Parks and Recreation 37 November/December 1982 Open Meetings Act Applies To Committees, Subcommittees Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner advised in a formal legal opinion that the Illinois Open Meetings Act applies to committees and subcommittees of public bodies in the same manner as it would to the basic public body. Fahner gave an example of his opinion which prevents a body from using such subterfuges as appointing two-person committees in order to avoid coverage of the Act. Fahner said in the example that if a principal body is made up of seven members, the majority of a quorum of the body would be three members. If the three members meet to discuss public business, they're covered by the Act. If only two members of the group meet, they would not be covered by the Act. "However," Fahner said, "if the two members are also members of a committee or similar subsidiary of the body which consists of five or fewer members,"the discussions of public business by the two members would require a public meeting. Secretary Watt Adds 2 Illinois Trails To NRTs Secretary of the Interior James Watt recently announced the designation of two Illinois trails — Great Western Nature Trail, Kane County, and Shag Bark Nature Preserve Trail, Lake County — as National Recreation Trails (NRTs). Great Western Nature Trail is 14 1/2 miles long and is one of the most popular bicycle trails in the Chicago metropolitan area. Hikers, nature study enthusiasts, joggers, crosscountry skiers, and snowmobilers also use the trail. Several organizations use the trail for charity events such as bike-a-thons and jog-a-thons. The trail utilizes the right-of-way of the abandoned Great Western Railroad. Administered by the Forest Preserve District of Kane County, the trail serves the Tri-City area of St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, and the Chicago metropolitan area, comprising about seven million people. Shag Bark Nature Preserve Trail is a one-mile loop which winds through portions of Shag Bark Park, providing a diversity of natural settings such as wet and dry prairie grasses, a large stand of shag bark hickory, marshes, a pond, and an abundance of flora and fauna. The trail is open year round for hiking, leisure walking, bird watching, photography, nature study, and conservation education. Located about 25 miles northwest of Chicago, the trail is administered by the Round Lake Area Park District. Banner Marsh Opened To The Public Banner Marsh, a partially reclaimed strip mining area near Canton, Illinois, opened to the public on September 3. The area consists of 40 acres of land, including 10 acres of lakes. According to Pam Gibson, a wildlife writer for the State Journal-Register, the opening of the new park "marks a special milestone of cooperation between concerned citizens and the Illinois Department of Conservation." Although efforts had been made over several years to reclaim the area, no progress was made until the DOC division of Lands and Historic Sites provided funds and a large volunteer work force of citizens joined hands with DOC to prepare the area for public use. The task was accomplished in a three month period. Citizen volunteers helped put out picnic tables, place signs at various points, and built toilet facilities. A boat ramp, parking lot and graveled roads were completed for less than $4,800, thanks to citizen cooperation. Fishing has been prevalent at the lake for some time. Wells Fargo Gamefield Launches National Fitness Campaign Wells Fargo Bank, in cooperation with the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and the National Recreation and Park Association, announce the launching of America's largest privately-funded fitness campaign, "Wells Fargo Gamefield." The program, now in its third year, has been successful in more than 300 California locations and with 200 model park and recreation departments in more than 40 states. It has been expanded to provide grant funding, promotional support and educational training for parks, schools, hospitals and corporations across America in a massive three-year commitment by Wells Fargo Bank. Grants worth $2,500 each are now available on an allocated basis by state to 1000 cities in 1983 for all four Wells Fargo Gamefield programs, which include:
• Wells Fargo Gamefield 20-Station Jogging Course — $7100 "The ultimate objective," says Diane Miller, Project Director for Wells Fargo Bank in California, "is to spread the successes we have achieved and establish a uniform and cohesive network of Wells Fargo Gamefield fitness facilities that people can begin to rely on everywhere they exercise." "We have also learned that cities that open three or four Wells Fargo Gamefield's simultaneously have the biggest impact on fitness in the community, so we have teamed up with the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and NRPA to offer extra incentives for opening three or more Wells Fargo Game-field's in any one year," said Miller. The trio of agencies will offer a comprehensive fitness marketing seminar at the 1983 Congress for Recreation and Parks in Kansas City, Mo., with a $250 travel allowance to help individuals afford the trip. In addition, funding will be provided to NRPA to continue to promote fitness on the national level. Information on the program will be featured each month in Parks & Recreations and Dateline. For further information, phone or write The Wells Fargo Gamefield Grant Campaign, 2088 Union Street, Suite #1, San Francisco, CA 94123. Illinois Parks and Recreation 38 November/December 1982 Tree Seedlings Available Illinois landowners may order tree and shrub seedlings now from the Department of Conservation's two tree nurseries for reforestation, wildlife habitat development and other conservation related uses, Al Mickelson, DOC state forester, announces. Order forms may be obtained from the DOC regional offices. Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service offices, local farm extension advisors and other agriculture-related agencies. Seedlings ordered now will be delivered in time for planting next spring. "Since nearly 95 percent of the land in Illinois is privately owned, this program is a major part of our efforts to develop wildlife habitat and re-establish forestlands in Illinois," Mickelson said. More than 20 species of tree and shrub seedlings between six and 18 inches high are available. Seedlings purchased from the Department must be used for conservation purposes only, Mickelson said. They may not be used as ornamental shrubs, shadetrees or for landscaping purposes. Plants are sold in single-species units of 250 or in special purpose packets of 100 to 500 seedlings. Prices begin at $12.50. There is no limit to the number of units or packets that may be purchased. Orders will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until March 15. Available species include black locust, autumn olive, black walnut, hickory, white oak, black cherry, hackberry, crabapple, red pine, Scotch pine, hazelnut, Washington hawthorn, white pine, ash, black alder, gray dogwood, bush honeysuckle, pin oak, red gum, red oak, sycamore, tulip poplar, bald cypress and loblolly pine. Current seedling inventory is available by calling (217) 785-5517 during office hours. Illinois Parks and Recreation 41 November/December 1982 |
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