Brown-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta L.) SUMMER 1987 I· Grand Prairie sNews I ,- ANNUAL MEETING / PRAIRIE SOCIAL SCHEDULED FOR SEPT. 20 The GPI' Annual Meeting will be held from 2 until 4 pm Sunday, September 20 at Meadowbrook Park. Meadowbrook Park is at the corner of South Race Street and Windsor Road in Urbana. In case of rain, we will meet instead at the Urbana Civic Center at 108 Water Street. Everyone is invited, whether they are GPF members or not, to join in the fun at this prairie social. Prairie games for kids young and old as well as exhibits of prairie mammals, birds and maybe even insects are some of the highlights of the afternoon. Prairie walks through the Meadowbrook Prairie are scheduled for 2:30, 3:00 and 3:30. There will also be refreshments, soil sampling demonstrations, dulcimer music, balloons and a plant sale. .................................. PLANS TO EXTEND ANITA PURVES PRAIRIE The Urbana Park District plans to extend the prairie near the Anita Purves Nature Center. Anyone who can donate prairie plants, seeds or labor is encouraged to attend their workday on September 19. A voting booth will be set up at the registration table to facilitate the election of new board members and voting on the proposed bylaws change. Members who are unable to attend the annual meeting may request an absentee ballot by calling the president, Mare Payne at 344- 7840 by September 1. Please plan to take this opportunity to learn more about GPF, the prairie, and to vote in the elections. PRAIRIE SETTLERS DAY The Urbana Park District is celebrating its 80th birthday by· hosting a Prairie Settlers Day on Sunday, September 20 at Crystal Lake Park. They have lots of activities planned for throughout the day, including a visit in the evening by "Mark Twain". This would be a good way to conclude your "day on the prairie" after attending the GPF Annual Meeting and Prairie Social.
1987-88 CH' BOARD r. u~ mxm There are 12 members serving cm the GPF Board of Directors. Six board members will be returning to ccnplete the seccn:i year of their two-year tem. 'l'he remaining six directors are to be elected at the annual meeting oo September 20 in MeadcN>rook Park. The roninating camdttee was unable to identify DrJre than 6 persons willing and able to nm for a board position. If you are interested in nnming for the board or if you NJU.ld like to nan1nate saneone, please notify Mare Payne (344-7840) by September 1. If there are no aa:li tional naninations, the membership will be asked to approve the slate of nan1nees pm:eeented here. J'obn Baenaann is a member of the Rantoul Planning Commission and serves en the Rantoul Village Board. He has served as a GPF board member for 2 years, volmteering frequently at the Shortline Prairie, organizing the work to erect the fence at the Shortline, and working en a lard acquisition project this past year. Pral1k DinDua is an associate plarmer for Chanpiign <:nmty. He has a degree in erwiramental science and has been interested in prairies for DrJre than a decade. He served en the 1985-86 GPF board and was land aoquisi ticn chair during his tenure. Deanna Glosser is working on a doctorate in Enviranental Planning at the u. of I. She has been en the GPF board for two -years, serving as vice-president this past year. During her tenure she has coordinated the Prairie Plant Propagatioo workshop and the 3ohn Madson event. Sharon Nonday-Oaraey was cme of the original founders of GPF. She chaired the first Central Illinois Prairie Conference in 1985. Sharai has also \1JOl'ked w1 th the Habitat CClllli ttee of the local Audubon chapter on the Meadowbrook Prairie project. Mare Payne is the editor of the facul ty--staff neNSpaper at the u. of I. She is the current president of GPF and the steward for the Welles Cemetery Prairie. Mare was publicatialS chair for GPF during the 1985-86 te:nn. Mary JCay Solecki is a research biologist at the Illinois Natural History SUrvey. She has been with the SUrvey for two years and is currently N:>rking on a project to control exotic species at the Prospect Cemetery site. ................................................................. PfctR.6BD »11!'.NIJBff '1'0 BYLANS The folladng amendment of the bylaws was proposed at the July board meeting. he aneninent concerns the number of cand1dates the naninating calllli ttee is required to find for each vacant positioo oo GPF's Board of Directors. The roninating camdttee is currently required to slate at least two candidates for each vacant position, but the camdttees have consistently been unable to find sufficient willing and able candidates to meet this requirement. 'l'he membership will vote oo the proposed~ at the annual meeting oo September 20. Article VII:Committees, Section 5 currently states 11 ••• The naninating camdttee shall pxeeent a slate, in writing, with descriptive qualifications to the membership by September 1. The slate should CalSist of at least twice as many nan1nees as vacancies to be filled .... " The proposed ~ would replace the sentence "The slate should consist of ••• 11 with "The naninating camd ttee will naninate at least one candidate for each open position en the board and further nan1nations may be made fran the floor by the membership. Please plan to attend the anrmal meeting and vote oo this important issue.
WHAT'S BLOOMING by Wendy Garrison To be on the prairie at midday in August is to be hot. The early morning - between dawn and 8 am is much better. Evening is also beautiful, and may offer a colorful sunset, but mosquitos are likely to be out. However, let nothing stop you from going. In late .July and in August, the prairie begins to earn its reputation of being the six foot tall spectacle that, we are told, hid a person on horseback. Some of the tall grasses are now beginning to flower (grasses have small flowers, but flowers none the less). Cordgrass and big bluestem are two that are easy to find and recognize. Cordgrass grows in wet places on the prairie, and sometimes in roadside ditches. Big bluestem does indeed have a bluish purple tint, and the characteristic turkey foot shape when it flowers. Compass plant is now sending up its one thick coarse flowering stalk with many large yellow aster like flowers arranged on it. The stalks are three to seven feet tall. The prairie dock is not far behind. It will also have yellow flowers but its tall stalks are smooth and branched. Its rough heart shaped leaves, usually over a foot long themselves, are easy to recognize even before the plant blooms. The flowering spurge is another common plant now blooming. It is two feet tall, with slender many-branched stems and small white flowers with five petals. Like the pointsettia, it is in the Euphorbiaceae family. Culver's root, which favors the same low wet places as cordgrass can be recognized by its three to seven spikes of small white or pink flowers. Its leaves are in whorls, meaning a number of leaves radiate in a circle from a single point on the stem. The gray headed coneflower, with its drooping yellow petals and brown center is going strong, although it has been blooming since early .July. Its companion, monarda (purple flowers, in the mint family) is now all but finished. All of the above common prairie plants can be seen at the GPF Shortline Railroad Prairie, near Gifford. From Urbana, take rt 45 north to Thomasboro. Turn east at the sign to Flatville, follow that road beyond the Flatville church as it goes east, and as it turns north. Turn east at the park just before entering Gifford and follow that road to the first intersection (county road 2400E). Go north until you see the Shortline. You will be at the west end. There is an orange gate at each end, and a GPF sign at the east end (county road 2500E). GPF owns the entire right-of-way (.7 mi) between the two county roads, so you may enter at either end. Monarda Coneflower
GPF AND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY TO COSPONSOR SPEAKER Grand Prairie Friends and the University of Illinois Museum of Natural History will co-sponsor a speaker on Thursday, October 1 at 7: 30 pm. Steve Packard, field representative for the Nature Conservancy, will conduct a slide presentation and discussion on "Restoring Native Prairie Landscapes." Steve has been active in preserving and restoring native grasslands for many years. He has developed a successful strategy of restoration out of his work on the 120-acre North Branch Prairies in Cook County. Steve is currently involved in a large restoration project in Lee County. The Nachusa Prairie is a 500-acre restoration site. The preservation and restoration of large prairies is vital for the long-term survival of many prairie plant and animal species. Please join us on Thursday, October 1 at 7:30 in room 228 of the Natural History Building, 1301 W. Green Street, Urbana to hear Steve Packard's presentation. A reception will follow. ................................... WENDELL BERRY VISIT Wendell Berry, author of books on alternative farming techniques and nature poet, is scheduled to visit Urbana in mid October. Tentative plans have been set for a poetry reading on Thursday October 15 and a lecture October 16. Grand Prairie Friends may join in organizing a reception for him during his visit. Call Deanna Glosser, 333-9575, for more information. PRAIRIE NURSERY FIELD TRIP PLANNED On Saturday, August 29 we will be visiting the Illinois IlCC Prairie Nursery in Mason county east of Havana. We will leave from the Anita Purves Nature Center parking lot at 8:00 a.m. Bring your lunch and beverage. Stewart Pequinot, manager of this nursery, will be on hand for the tour beginning at 10:30 a.m. This is a great opportunity to see what the state is growing arxi learn roore atx:ru.t their plan for state prairie management. Please join us to show the state we are interested in their work for Illinois' prairie. For more information call SUzanne Smith at 896-2698 after 8:00. .................................... GOODBYE, WENDY Wendy Garrison, cofounder and first president of GPF, leaves Urbana in August for Oxford, Mississippi. She is leaving with her husband, Rich Raspet, who has accepted a post at the University of Mississippi ( Ole Miss). Wendy has been a prairie enthusiast for several years. Before she helped organize GPF, she served on the ERES board. Wendy was instrumental in GPF's purchase of the Shortline Railroad Prairie, and has served as steward of that site. She and Rich have spent many hours working on the Shortline Prairie and organizing work crews for· special projects. In recent years, Wendy has also taught the Parkland course "Reading the Landscape". Wendy and Rich are planning to live on a farm in Mississippi where Wendy will restore plants native to that area. We will miss them both.