Drivers motoring on Dundee Road in Northbrook Dec. 14 near Somme Woods East were treated to a scene from a holiday card.
Volunteers from locales such as Northbrook and Evanston were planting an estimated 100 species of seeds, Johnny Appleseed style. Next spring, wildflowers and grasses are expected to flourish among acorn-dotted floors in forests featuring burr and white oaks near open marshes.
Two large brushfires, safely controlled and providing a burst of orange color against grayscale timbers, brought landscapes to life.
People working a shift as part of the Centennial Volunteer Restoration Days experienced fresh air and the aroma of food roasting over an open fire.
The delicacies in an earthenware tagine pot were not chestnuts. Instead they bore wintry cold box treats, including cauliflower, chickpeas, carrots and onions, slow roasted with garlic and olive oil.
“Do veggies taste better outside?” said Peter Kim of Northbrook, a volunteer who swept the exterior circle of one open fire east of Waukegan Road. “Of course they do!”
Championing the restoration of Forest Preserve District of Cook County lands are Friends of the Forest Preserves, Audubon Chicago Region, Friends of the Chicago River and FPDCC itself.
“This is a group of volunteers that has been brought together to celebrate Cook County Forest Preserve’s 100-year anniversary,” said Josh Coles, community organizer with the Friends of the Forest Preserves, a non-profit affiliate in downtown Chicago.
“It’s a really exciting project,” added Coles, who spoke near a cackling brushfire that was forming a white crust near its rim.
Worksites include lands in the Calumet region. Blue Star Memorial Woods in Glenview at Harms Road is a priority, besides Somme Woods East, which is across from the Waukegan Road Somme Prairie. The prairie, which is accessible near the Northbrook Post Office (2460 Dundee Road), also features ephemeral wetlands and more open savannahs toward the tollway.
“Somme Woods is unique because it’s an Oak woodland, a lot of interesting flora,” said Coles, whose volunteers Dec. 14 contained invasive plants such as woody buckthorn.
The blue spotted salamander, which is underground hibernating, might reveal itself in warmer seasons when a rotting log is overturned.
John Cherry Jr. of Northbrook worked with a hacksaw.
“It’s your lumberjack’s friend!” Cherry said with a smile, of that handy tool simplicity.
Tina Onderdonk of south Evanston said, “I just think it’s a great project.”
Lisa Youngberg, who grew up in Northbrook by the train station, is a Glenbrook North High School graduate. She enjoyed playing in the forest preserves as a child and says many neighbors don’t see the forest through the trees.
“You drive past it but you don’t see it, is that how it goes?” Youngberg said with a laugh, at the suggestion some folks don’t notice the Somme Woods East entrance.
“Come help us, we need you,” Youngberg urged, encouraging people to volunteer in their neck of the woods.
Evanston Township High School students also gave of their energy on a balmy December Sunday with temperatures in the lower 50 degree range, no drizzle.
ETHS sophomores Dec. 14 included Greta VandenHeuvel, 16, Bailey Minzenberger, 16, and Eloise Wesenberg, 15.
“Being a volunteer is important because it’s nice to help out the community and just really make a positive impact,” Bailey said.
“I think it’s really helpful to volunteer and help the habitat that’s naturally here,” Eloise said, concerned about halting invasive plant growth.
Stephen Packard of Northbrook, known in ecological circles as a steward of lands restoration, mentored others and offered a mid-shift healthy snack.
Peter Kim, who maintained his brushfire cinders as one might rake a rock garden, worked quietly as the snack he’d share roasted gently and openly as the fire faded.
A few days before Hanukkah and 11 days before Christmas, John Cherry Jr. had a message of peace.
“It’s important to be grateful,” Cherry said, pausing to talk between splitting wood. “It’s gratitude in action.”