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Native Plant Seed Packets Now Available in Menard County!
Great news for gardeners and nature enthusiasts: Menard County Trails & Greenways is once again offering native plant seed packets! You can find them at convenient locations such as the Petersburg Public Library, the Yellow Door (Petersburg location), Crazy Daisy Gift Shop, and the Athens Municipal Library. This year, we’re excited to offer 17 vibrant species, including seeds collected from Petersburg’s square, Historic Wayside Park, and our members’ own gardens and prairie restorations. Best of all, the seed packets are free, though we gratefully accept donations to support Menard County Trails & Greenways. The displays will be restocked as long as supplies last! Not Sure Which Seeds to Choose? We’ve…
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RAFFLE for Menard County Trails & Greenways!
Perspectives Art Gallery and artist Pam Hamilton have teamed up to support Menard County’s Trails & Greenways with a fundraiser raffle to Win Original Art! Enter now for a chance(s) to win “Flight of the Huntress”—a stunning 24″x30″ original painting by the talented Pam Hamilton, valued at $750! Raffle Details Tickets can be purchased from any Trails & Greenways Board Member or at Perspectives Art Gallery. Plus, find additional ticket locations by scanning the QR code in the graphic! Or purchase your ticket(s) online: be sure to include your contact info (phone and/or email — otherwise we won’t have a way to contact you if you win!). About Pam HamiltonPam Hamilton’s…
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Wayside Prairie
If you’ve recently passed by the northwest corner of Routes 97 & 123, directly across from Historic Wayside Park, you may have noticed some major changes. Over the past couple of years, invasive species, dead green ash, and other trees have been cleared as part of the first phase of an exciting project—the creation of a small shortgrass prairie.
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Sangamon River Sweep
We had a perfect day yesterday for being on the Sangamon. We hauled two full canoes of trash out. Tires, a TV, lawn chairs, house siding, buckets full of broken glass, cans and bottles, a plastic barrel…..and there’s more out there we didn’t have room for this time. Where does it all come from!?!? The weather was perfect, we saw a couple bald eagles, lots of killdeer, a great blue heron.
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Mosquito Spray: Collateral Damage to Pollinators and Human Health
By Amanda Serra My sister had a butterfly garden in her backyard for many years. Every summer, hundreds of Monarchs, Swallowtails, American and Painted Lady, Red Admiral, and Viceroy visited her yard to feed, reproduce, lay eggs, undergo metamorphosis, pollinate flowers and repeat the cycle year after year. Unfortunately, about three years ago the butterflies stopped coming. Not one butterfly for three years. Finally, my sister gave up and removed her butterfly garden. There didn’t seem to be a point to it anymore. What is going on?!I’m a chemistry teacher by day, a microbiologist by education, and a beekeeper by hobby. It didn’t take much investigation to find the answer…
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IDNR Volunteer of the Year Award
On August 17, 2024, Menard County Trails & Greenways received an Illinois Department of Natural Resources Volunteer of the Year award for the work we’ve done at the Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site Habitat Restoration Project! Since the spring of 2021 over 50 volunteers have contributed 973 volunteer hours over 128 days cutting & treating extremely dense and often very large honeysuckle bushes; and 195 hours hand pulling 196 garbage bags of garlic mustard. There’s more work to be done!! Let us know if you’d like to join the volunteer crew!
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Menard County Trails & Greenways Celebrates 20 Years!
Menard County Trails & Greenways celebrated its 20th year as a not-for-profit at the Annual Meeting and Member Party. About 50 people attended the event that took place on July 12th at Hand of Fate Brewery. The evening kicked off with the Annual Meeting, which included the election of board members, a look at the state of the organization’s membership and finances, a look back at the accomplishments over the year and a brief look ahead at some of the upcoming activities we have planned. Following the meeting everyone enjoyed a scrumptious potluck supper, their favorite Hand of Fate brew, visiting with old friends and meeting new friends. The FY24…
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Ways to celebrate Pollinator Week (June 17-23, 2024)!
Volunteer! Join MCTG members working at Wayside Park or on the square in Petersburg this week—or later this summer. We’ll be weeding, trimming, planting, watering, mulching, and eventually collecting seeds. If you’re interested in adopting a bed or a corner on the square, we can show you the ropes! Scout blooming plants now for later seed collection (see a blog on this subject soon!) Be a citizen scientist! Download the iNaturalist app and participate in the Illinois Monarch Project’s Bioblitz to document local insect activity. Create pollinator habitat at home! While the heat makes planting a little challenging this week, with ample water during establishment, natives will tough it out! Consider…
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Protecting the Earth for our Young Ones
We owe it to future generations to follow the advice Sara gives us all in her drawing. Let’s all pitch in for Petersburg on Saturday, April 27th. Meet at Hurie Park a 9:00 AM to sign-in and pick up supplies (trash bags, gloves, etc).
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Announcement, Community Service, Events, Native plants, Native Seed Sowing, Presentation, Volunteering
Planting Party for Wee Ones
Trails & Greenway is a proud sponsor of this family event organized by Birth to Five Illinois: Region 51 to introduce little ones to gardening with hands on experience of planting vegetable and native pollinator plant seeds. They will also learn about the importance of pollinators for our food supply. See the image below for event details and list of sponsors. If you’re interested in helping out let us know.
