Friends of the Green Bay Trail Day – now in its fifth year – gives families and residents a chance to celebrate and enjoy the beauty of the trail in bloom while learning from a variety of experts about this unique native habitat.
Friends of the Green Bay Trail Board Trustee Meridith Clement said Saturday’s free event serves as a way to highlight how the restoration and reestablishment of this biodiverse landscape in Glencoe, from Hubbard Woods to Shelton Park, has grown to support local wildlife, birds and insects.
“The trail has become a living example of what can be achieved by removing invasive species and installing native plants along the trail (something that is) achievable on (a) smaller scale at area residents’ homes,” Clement said.
Green Bay Trail Day puts all the resources in one place, Clement said, so that visitors can learn while enjoying the scenery.
Festivities included live music, nature-inspired crafts, story time, free giveaways of native plants and tree saplings, distribution of resource materials on tree planting and fitness, visits to a butterfly hatchery, birding tips from Audubon experts, a chance to discover hidden fairy houses amongst the trees, witness an artist’s interpretation of the trail landscape and so much more.
Several years ago, according to Clement, FGBT partnered with the Union Pacific Railroad, the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Village of Glencoe to improve the crossing at Lake Cook Road and to install a bike path link from the trail to the Botanic Garden. Increased use of the trail and the group’s initiatives helped push the partnership, she said.
“This is a day for raising awareness of the impressive restoration works done by the Friends of the Green Bay Trail,” Executive Director at the Winnetka-Northfield-Glencoe Chamber of Commerce Terry Dason said. “This work, difficult to sustain and to afford, continues to provides a most valuable resource in our community to be enjoyed, spring, summer, winter and fall.”
Friends of the Green Bay Trail Trustee Bryan Lammers describes himself as a tree guy.
Lammers was on the trail Saturday, promoting a call to action on behalf of Homegrown National Park and posing a national challenge to area residents to extend national parks into their yards by planting native and removing invasive species.
“Remove the ornamentals from your yard that are known to be invasive species and plant an oak tree,” Lammers said. “That’s a great place to start.”
Highwood resident Margaret Shandling attended Saturday.
“The removal of buckthorn is the most visible change that I can see in this habitat, making space for the beauty of native plants to come through,” Shandling said.
Community partners for the event included the Village of Glencoe, Glencoe Park District, Glencoe Sustainability Task Force, Orphans of the Storm, Eagle Scout Troop 20G, Lake County Audubon Society, Evanston Art Center, North Shore Art League, Glencoe Historical Society, Go Green Winnetka, Open Lands Association, Charles Schwab and others.
“The Green Bay Trail is a resource that is literally right out the door for residents of the North Shore,” Clement said. “It’s free, it’s a place to relax, refresh and restore.”
Gina Grillo is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.
