With the calendar heading in September, it’s time once again for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County’s Great Orb Hunt.
There’s no need for a gun or a permit — just keen vision to spot the 100 blown-glass and carved ceramic balls made by Fine Line Creative Arts Center hidden in small batches between Thursday, Sept. 5, and Monday, Sept. 30, about two to five feet off established trails in three locations.
Hunters will find them north of Dean Street in the LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles, along the prairie path near Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles, and off the trails at Burnidge Forest Preserve (with the exception of the orange-coded West Loop Trail) and tucked around its Paul Wolff Campground in Elgin.
“The orb hunt gets people out into nature, walking or biking around,” Fine Line center director Eileen Collins said. “Everyone knows the benefits of getting out into nature so why not add an art element to that?”
It’s a joint effort between the 45-year-old arts center and forest preserve district, showcasing what each has to offer.
“You may have walked the trails at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve plenty of times, but when you’re walking and looking for orbs, you realize just how large the trail system is,” said Laurie Metanchuk, the district’s community engagement director.
Last year, which was the first for the hunt, hundreds of people trekked through LeRoy Oaks hoping to find the ornaments, she said.
“You could tell by the way they were walking that they were looking for the orbs — glancing side-to-side with their heads down. They weren’t your typical hikers,” Metanchuk said.
The idea for the search came from Fine Line’s glass-blowing instructor Alan Shontz, who had seen a segment on “CBS Sunday Morning” about a similar orb hunt held on Block Island off the coast of Rhode Island. According to the report, the Block Island hunt had become a big tourist attraction in the dozen years since it started.
Some of Kane County’s orbs are glass made by Shontz while others are ceramic and made by the nine other artists. Each has been stamped for identification purposes.
“There are some amazing colors and textures. Each orb is a unique piece of art,” said Lynn Caldwell, Fine Line’s executive director.
The orbs are hidden in small batches, five days a week at different times of the day and on different days of the week, hunt organizers said. No announcement is made when orbs are hidden but social media posts announce each time one is found and registered.
“While the orbs are free for people to keep, we encourage them to go online and register them. It helps us as we plan for future years,” Collins said. “We also ask that each person keep only one orb per season. If they find another, we ask them to let it be so someone else can have the fun of finding an orb.”
Those who share their findings on social media are encouraged to tag their posts with @FineLineCreativeArtsCenter and @forestpreserve.
Not all 50 orbs from the first year’s event have been registered, either because the finders didn’t confirm they located them or because they’re still out there, Collins said. Of those who did register their finds, more that two dozen towns were represented — including one person being from Fredericksburg, Texas, she said.
“In February we had three new registrations,” she said. “One was found at LeRoy Oakes, and two were found at Fine Line, after our prairie burn.”
For more information, go to fineline.org/pages/the-great-orb-hunt or www.kaneforest.com.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
