a fox river testimony - the conservation foundation · 2019-11-22 · greatest land protection...

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Original paintings on sale now and exhibit opening September 20th. See article on Page 5

We save land. We save rivers.

A Fox River Testimony

A Season of Good Growing . . . . 3

A Brand New Forest Preserve is Born! . . . . . . . . . . 4

A Fox River Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . 5

This Is Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Nature: For the Health of It . . . . . . 8

Every Drop, Every Morsel . . . . . . . . 9

Volunteers Making Impact Regionwide . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Trustee Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Record Success: Earth Day Benefit Dinner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Upcoming Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

The Conservation Foundation is a 46-year-

old private 501(c)3 land and water protection

organization working to preserve nature in

northeastern Illinois. FEIN #23-7221206

Table of Contents

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Board of Trustees Chairman

Christopher Burke, PhD

Vice Chairman

Nancy Hopp

Treasurer

Thomas Schneider

Secretary

Tom Bennington

John Binneboese

Gail Bumgarner

Pete Connolly

Karen D’Arcy

Ken Holmstrom

Dave Hulseberg

Robert Hutchinson

Susan Jayne

Carole Koch

Julie Long

Joe Mikan

Kaaren Oldfield

D . “Dewey” Pierotti

Jack Pizzo

Jeanette Press

Ben Schwarz

Pat Tauchert

Lois Vitt-Sale

Dan Wagner

Jeff Wehrli

Dennis Wisnosky

Our Staff Headquarters: McDonald Farm

10 S 404 Knoch Knolls Road

Naperville, Illinois 60565

Phone: 630-428-4500 Fax: 630-428-4599

Program Office: Dickson-Murst Farm

2550 Dickson Road

Montgomery, Illinois 60538

Phone: 630-553-0687 Fax: 630-553-0742

Brook McDonald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 112

President/CEO

Trish Beckjord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 206

Fox River Program Manager

John Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 204

Kendall County Program Director

Nancy Cinatl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 120

Conservation@Home & Watershed Assistant

Environmental Educator

Deanna Doohaluk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 133

Watershed Project Manager

Jennifer Hammer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 114

Workgroup Watershed Manager

Land Stewardship Manager

Chere Hayes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 117

Director of Advancement

Jill Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 202

Communications Manager

Jim Kleinwachter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 115

Conservation@Home Program Manager

Scott LaMorte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 142

Senior Advancement Officer

Dan Lobbes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 201

Director of Land Preservation

Kane County Program Director

Stephen McCracken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 118

Director of Watershed Protection

Julie Moreschi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 152


Cassi Pollowy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 150

Green Earth Program Assistant

Jan Roehll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 121

DuPage County Program Director

Duncan Simonson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 150

Green Earth Farm Manager

Ellen Soukup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 124

Director of Finance

Carrie Thompson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 110

Membership Services Manager

Jamie Viebach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 128

Manager of Youth Education

Will County Program Director

Carolyn Wagner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ext . 111

Mighty Acorns® Coordinator

Remote Employees

Bridget BulthaupEnvironmental Educator Joe JakupcakEnvironmental Educator

Bonnie JohnsonEnvironmental Educator

Sandy KaczmarskiCommunications Assistant

Shelly MoskalEnvironmental Educator

Maura NeufferEnvironmental Educator

Amy PhillipsEnvironmental Educator

Magazine Design & Layout: Michael Stout, Senior Creative Director, Sikich LLP

Managing Editor: Jill Johnson; Photography Credits – Unless otherwise credited, photos were taken by staff of The Conservation Foundation or were found in our archives.

Our Mission Statement We improve the health of our communities by preserving and restoring open space and natural lands, protecting rivers and watersheds and promoting stewardship of our environment.

This magazine is printed on recycled paper using environmentally-friendly vegetable-based inks.

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2 The Heron | www .theconservationfoundation .org

From the President/CEO

After a long winter, we were all happy to greet the warm weather months, and they brought with them some exciting organizational changes along with the natural awakenings . A season of renewal, growth and new beginnings – That’s the type of season we are in at The Conservation Foundation!

Some of this growth is quite literal! We’ve watched little sprouts and seedlings spring up in the greenhouses at McDonald Farm and grow by the day in our fields on their way to becoming nourishing food for this year’s Green Earth Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) season, which became a program of The Conservation Foundation when we merged with the Green Earth Institute at the beginning of 2018 . While this merger doesn’t exactly make me a farmer – I’m leaving the digging, planting and weeding to our Farm Manager Duncan and his crew – it does fit perfectly with The Conservation Foundation’s mission to improve the health of the communities we work in .

The efforts of our Green Earth CSA workers and the support of CSA subscribers and members of The Conservation Foundation will bring bushels upon bushels of healthy, organic vegetables to Naperville and surrounding towns, all while treating the land they are grown in with utmost care and fulfilling Lenore McDonald’s dream of having the farmland she loved continue to produce food long after she donated it to The Conservation Foundation in 1992 .

Along with our Farm Manager, Duncan Simonson, we welcome 6 new Green Earth employees to the staff of The Conservation Foundation, and Carole Koch to our Board of Trustees . We’re going to need a bigger table for our staff meetings! Having the Green Earth folks in and out of the office, hearing them order seeds and plan out this year’s fields, has been a breath of fresh air . And we look

forward to getting to know all of you CSA subscribers and supporters throughout this growing season .

Especially if you were not terribly familiar with The Conservation Foundation before this merger, I want to make sure you know you are always welcome to contact me or stop in the office if you have any questions or just want to chat .

And I’d like to extend another heartfelt thank you to Steve Tiwald, founder of the Green Earth Institute, for entrusting us upon his retirement with the vision he and his wife Karen worked so hard to achieve .By: Brook McDonald President/CEO

A Season of Good Growing

Signing the official documents to merge The Green Earth Institute with The Conservation Foundation L to R Standing: Brook McDonald, President/CEO of The Conservation Foundation and Steve Tiwald, Founder of the Green Earth Institute. L to R Seated: Christopher Burke, Board Chairman of The Conservation Foundation and Carole Koch, Chairperson of the Green Earth Institute (now a trustee of The Conservation Foundation)

www .theconservationfoundation .org | The Heron 3

A Brand New Forest Preserve is Born!Forty-four years ago, The Conservation Foundation was about two years old . The Beatles had just broken up, the Vietnam war was raging, both Amtrak and Walt Disney World were brand new, and Saturday Night Live and the Apple Computer Company didn’t exist yet . And the beginning pages of one of The Conservation Foundation’s greatest land protection success stories were being written .

Yes, it’s true . People have been working toward the preservation of a 135-acre piece of property along the Little Rock Creek in Kendall County for more than four decades . That forty-four year effort came to an end at a March 29th, 2018 closing, when The Conservation Foundation became the owners of this ecological gem . We are well aware of the years of dedication and persistence that made this possible, and we were honored and humbled to be the new caretakers of such a prize…for the 10 minutes that we owned it .

It was our pleasure to turn around and donate the property to the Kendall County Forest Preserve District, to be explored and enjoyed by all Kendall County residents and visitors . And there is much to enjoy, with 1 .3 miles of Little Rock Creek frontage, incredible ecological value and diversity, majestic woodlands, bluffs and abundant wildflowers and wildlife . The property is adjacent to the beautiful and historic Maramech Forest Preserve . And Little Rock Creek is one of the highest quality streams in Illinois . No wonder this place has inspired so many over the years . It is well worth the fight!

But this fight could not have been won without generous funding from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, a Federal Land and Water Conservation grant, the tireless work of our Director of Land Protection Dan Lobbes, the Kendall Forest Foundation, our partnership with the Kendall County Forest Preserve District and the many private donors of The Conservation Foundation who contributed to this project . Thank you so very much! You’ve given an incredibly special gift to present and future generations .

By: Jill Johnson Communications Manager


Lands & Waters

A Fox River Testimony

Joel Sheesley, Artist-In-Residence for Art of the Fox, doing a preparatory sketch for a Fox River landscape painting.

Clockwise from Left: Fox River Five Islands, Waubonsie Creek Oswego, Mill Creek Mouth

Have you ever experienced how something good can become even better when you know the depth of care and feeling that went into its creation? How a meal is even more savory, a garden becomes even lovelier, a blanket brings more comfort when you understand the love behind the hands that shaped it? I mean, it’s the same food, the same garden, the same blanket, but feeling that love transcends the visual element and allows that physical object to reach a place in your spirit . The more I get to know our Artist-In-Residence Joel Sheesley, the more this happens to me when I experience the Fox River artwork he has been creating for Art of the Fox, a program of our Fox River Initiative .

I don’t think it’s necessary even to have met Joel to appreciate his talent and the beauty of his paintings . They can stop you in your tracks, and sometimes you need a moment to determine if you are looking at a photograph or if someone could really have captured in a still painting those nuances of light and depth and a river in motion . But spend even a little time with Joel, and I think your experience of his art will be magnified a thousandfold .

Joel has spent the last two years travelling up and down the Fox River, from West Dundee in the north all the way down to Ottawa in the south in an attempt, in his words, to “respond through art to the beauty of this river .” As a plein air painter, Joel describes his first task as just to be in a place, to put himself in an observational position so he can absorb and soak up what is going on around him . Doesn’t that sound marvelous? “You’re at the mercy of time, and the movement of the sun, weather, mosquitoes, you name it,” says Joel . “But it’s the most delightful way to work because it puts you right there and you feel like whatever you have put down on your canvas is really an honest take . That’s why I love it . It’s wonderful to just BE in the place that you are painting .”

He has managed to put his honest take on more than 70 places all along the Fox River, and this collected work, called A Fox River Testimony, will be on exhibit at the Schingoethe

Center of Aurora University beginning September 20th, 2018 . The exhibit will kick off with an opening reception that day at 5pm, followed by an Artist’s Talk at 6:45pm . Registration will be required for the Artist’s Talk so watch www .theconservationfoundation .org/lovethefox for registration information . The exhibit will be available for viewing during the Schingoethe Center’s regular hours and will close on Friday, December 14th . High quality limited-edition prints of select paintings and also a book of Joel’s paintings and writings will be for sale as well .

Joel’s original paintings are available for purchase now, and a gallery can be viewed at the website above . At the very least, you will add a beautiful rendering of the Fox River to your wall . But the artist himself hopes it will be more than that . “I imagine a person falling in love with a painting, and falling in love with what it represents, and feeling concern for it,” says Joel . “I want them to feel a kind of affection for it because of where it leads them, what it takes them to .”

“A Fox River Testimony is an effort to let the Fox speak . It’s my testimony of time spent on the river, but it’s also a testimony of The Conservation Foundation, that they are invested in the aesthetic dimension of the Fox River along with all of its other dimensions, and a testimony to their ongoing love, care and support for the river and the communities it runs through .”

We could not have chosen a more talented, thoughtful artist to paint this testimony . We know you will be as moved by it as we have been!



Lands & Waters

Our Growing Ranks

This is UsOur staff has grown and changed a lot after our merger with the Green Earth Institute . As of April 2018, This is Us!

1. Brook McDonald President/CEO

2. Dan Lobbes Director of Land Preservation

Kane County Program Director

3. Sandy Kaczmarski Communications Assistant

4. Julie Moreschi Environmental Educator

5. Nancy Cinatl Conservation@Home &

Watershed Assistant


6. Stephen McCracken Director of Watershed Protection

7. Deanna Doohaluk Watershed Project Manager

8. Kelly Foster Green Earth CSA Coordinator

9. Amy Phillips Environmental Educator

10. Shelly Moskal Environmental Educator

11. Jim Kleinwachter Conservation@Home

Program Manager

12. Jamie Viebach Manager of Youth Education

Will County Program Director

13. Carolyn Wagner Mighty Acorns® Coordinator

14. Jessica Rehs Green Earth Field Crew

15. Jan Roehll DuPage County Program Director


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This is Us

16. Maura Neuffer Environmental Educator

17. Trish Beckjord Fox River Program Manager

18. Jason Halm Green Earth Assistant Farm Manager

19. Rachel Steinmiller Mains Intern

20. Chere Hayes Director of Advancement

21. Jill Johnson Communications Manager

22. Dan Popek Green Earth Field Crew

23. Jennifer Hammer Workgroup Watershed Manager

Land Stewardship Manager

24. Ellen Soukup Director of Finance

25. Scott LaMorte Senior Advancement Officer

26. Agustin Gonzalez Green Earth Field Crew

27. Cassi Pollowy Green Earth Program Assistant

28. Carrie Thompson Membership Services Manager

29. John Church Kendall County Program Director

30. Duncan Simonson Green Earth Farm Manager

Congratulations to the following staff members on their milestone

ANNIVERSARIESBridget Bulthaup5 Years

Jennifer Hammer20 Years

Chere Hayes15 Years

Jill Johnson15 Years

Scott LaMorte5 Years

Dan Lobbes15 Years

Jan Roehll5 Years

Ellen Soukup5 Years

Carolyn Wagner10 Years


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Healthy Communities

Nature: For the Health of ItMuch research has recently emerged to support what people who live close to nature have always intrinsically known – Nature is good for us! Time spent in the outdoors and in touch with nature strengthens our bodies, engages our minds and nourishes our souls .

There is an undeniably strong connection between the health of our natural communities and the vitality of the human communities we have created . The more connected we are with nature, the healthier we will be: mind, body and spirit . Helping people discover and maintain this health-giving connection to nature is the main goal of one of The Conservation Foundation’s newest initiatives, Nature Rx .

Inspired by the national movement of the same name, we have begun looking at our programs through the lens of human health; humans are most certainly part of the ecosystems we have always worked to protect, so it just makes sense . And apparently the idea resonates with plenty of local folks, since more than 400 of them joined us to explore various aspects of Nature Rx at the DuPage Environmental Summit held earlier this year . Our Summit speakers delivered presentations on specific research supporting the connections between nature and human health, the health benefits

of trees, ways the local healthcare community is integrating Nature Rx into their work, mindfulness, forest bathing (or Shinrin-yoku) and a panel discussion on current local initiatives to further human health through interactions with the natural world . If you are interested in viewing these presentations, you can go to our website at www .theconservationfoundation .org and search Nature Rx to find them on our blog page .

In the past several months, we have experienced so many exciting, often poignant conversations with local community leaders, healthcare professionals, partner organizations and our individual members about how nature and health are related and have impacted their work and their own personal wellbeing .

Our main goals with Nature Rx are to help people understand that nature is not a luxury, it is a necessity for our very survival and plays a major role in our overall health . And once they understand that, we will help them connect with opportunities to improve their health and the quality of their lives through nature . We hope you will join us to see where all of these ideas lead, and to get more connected with nature, for the health of it .


“The helpful effects of nature are just profound in medicine. It lowers the blood pressure, it

lowers weight because you’re out moving, it lowers stress, and

improves depression. Just last week I told one of my patients that I could give them a pill for

depression, but it would work so much better if they would get outside and get walking. It’s

much more effective, and there are no side effects!!”

~Dr. Sarah Kimber,

Tri-City Health Partnership

“Something that nature people have always known is that there’s this tremendous healing effect that comes over you when you’re

outside in a natural area. I had a re-awakening of that feeling just within the last year, when I was diagnosed with cancer. I had to undergo a lot of heavy duty treatments to get that illness under

control and my system took a beating. Sometimes you don’t realize how sick you are until you’re better again and when I feel the way I do today, which is good, and I look back to how I felt even 6 months ago, I really want to maintain this level of good health and vibrancy and I think being outdoors is going to have a key role in that. Being outside – it’s a gift! You’re surrounded by life when you’re out here,

and there’s no better Rx than that.”~Pam Otto, St. Charles Park District


Healthy Communities

Every Morsel, Every Drop“My goal is to be a small part of my guests' enjoyment of every

morsel and drop of life." ~Chef Paul Virant

The enjoyment of every morsel and drop of life – what a beautiful pursuit! And it was certainly achieved at the first annual Farm to Fork Dinner at McDonald Farm last summer, when 150 guests gathered in our park-like backyard to savor the simple pleasures of a summer evening and the culinary magic of critically-acclaimed Chef Paul Virant .

We had such an incredible time, we’re going to do it again! The 2nd Annual Farm to Fork Dinner at McDonald Farm is planned for Saturday, August 18th, 5pm to 8:30pm on McDonald Farm’s 60 peaceful acres .

The first 150 guests to register will be treated to a four-course world-class dinner, including wine, served family-style and prepared by the owner of two famous Chicago-area restaurants and his staff . Chef Paul has won a cornucopia of awards and has an insatiable passion for cooking with local food . The vegetables to be featured on our dinner plates August 18th are growing right now at McDonald Farm and being carefully tended by our Green Earth CSA farm crew – it doesn’t get more local than that! We can personally attest to the care and attention given to each plant, and you can taste the love .

This is going to be an unforgettable evening of deep nourishment as we feast on conversation, natural beauty and the fruits of these 60

cherished acres . We will savor every drop, and every morsel, and we hope you will join our gathering!

Tickets are $150/person for Members of The Conservation Foundation or the Green Earth Institute, and $175/person for Non-Members, and registration is limited to the first 150 guests . You can register at www .theconservationfoundation .org/farmtofork

A Little More About Chef Paul

Paul Virant, our chef for the evening, is the owner and Executive Chef of Vie in Western Springs and Vistro in Hinsdale . Chef Paul is known for his contemporary Midwestern cuisine that emphasizes canned and preserved ingredients . His philosophy of local, seasonal eating stems from techniques he learned on his family’s farm in Missouri .

In 2012, Chef Paul released The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking with Pickles, Preserves, and Aigre-Doux, the first canning manual and cookbook authored by a critically acclaimed chef that creatively combines the technical aspects of canning with a chef’s expertise on flavor . He has also competed on Food Network’s “Iron Chef America”, and earned a Michelin star in 2011 .


We'd like to thankOur Sponsors


People & Philanthropy

The supporters of The Conservation Foundation are most definitely our soul . Our volunteers, who give so tirelessly of their time and talents, make sure that soul is never at rest in the best ways possible . In just the past handful of months, they have helped carry out our mission and accomplish impact we never could have on our own, especially through these ongoing projects: By: Jill Johnson, Communications Manager

Heritage Quarries Recreation Area, LemontThrough CITGO’s Caring for Our Coast Program, The Conservation Foundation, The Village of Lemont, and Lemont High School have partnered to create a habitat for birds, butterflies and other local wildlife by removing invasive trees and shrubs and planting native prairie flowers, grasses and trees in the Heritage Quarries Recreation Area in Lemont . On April 28th, an ambitious group of 128 volunteers, including students from Lemont High School, gathered for the 7th work day on the site! Over the course of these work days, more than 120 native trees and 1,000 native plugs have been planted, eight acres have been planted in native seeds, and 10 acres of the natural areas around the quarry have been restored .

DuPage River SweepSince its beginnings more than 26 years ago, volunteers at the annual DuPage River Sweep have pulled enough garbage out of the river and its tributaries to outweigh a 747 airplane! This year’s 829 volunteers, including groups from Northwestern and Central DuPage Hospitals and several church, scout and youth groups, spread out along the riverbanks with their usual zeal . In addition to pulling tires, fencing, car parts, scrap wood and various other findings out of the river and its tributaries, several groups also did restoration work on natural areas along these waterways .

Dickson-Murst Farm PartnersWe could never say it enough – our Dickson-Murst Farm Partners are AMAZING! Fresh off the heels of the most successful Spring at the Farm ever and a wonderful week-long Farm Camp, they are gearing up for Beer, Bands and Barns on July 21st and Day at the Farm on August 19th . Join us on the farm!

Prairie Park in FrankfortAlso in April, a group of 35 volunteers descended upon Prairie Park in Frankfort for the second time as part of their Earth Day/Arbor Day celebration . The group’s major task was to clear honeysuckle, buckthorn, and other invasives from Prairie Park’s natural areas, as well as collect seeds from native plants already on the site . These work days are part of our ongoing Conservation In Our Community partnership with the Village of Frankfort .

Friends of the Dayton Bluffs PreserveWe knew being the owners and stewards of a natural gem like our Dayton Bluffs Preserve was an honor, but the group of people that has rallied around us and the site has exceeded our wildest expectations . From helping us clear the woodlands of invasives to converting farm fields into prairie to creating and maintaining the entrance and trails, these folks never cease to amaze us! The group holds work days the 2nd Saturday of every month, 9am to Noon, if you’d like to join the fun!

Our Soul Never Rests “Without volunteers, we’d be a nation without a soul.”~Rosalyn Carter


A Marvelous Legacy

People and Philanthropy

Carole Koch of Naperville, former chairperson of The Green Earth Institute, joined the board of The Conservation Foundation

when our merger became official in January .

Carole was involved in the Green Earth mission from the beginning, serving as a Board member and volunteer and also helping produce marketing materials for the Community Supported Agriculture program .

In her professional life, Carole has worked as director of human resources at the University of Illinois Hospital & Clinics, and as Chief HR Officer/Associate Hospital Director at the U of I Medical Center in Chicago . Carole was a volunteer docent for 10 years at the Robert McCormick Museum, Cantigny Park, in Wheaton, and served on the board of directors for the Naperville Chorus for three years .

Carole’s experience as a native Chicagoan who moved to the suburbs 38 years ago to escape the concrete has been a defining part of her conservation ethic .

“The local population was a mere 44,000 then, so I’ve seen first-hand how quickly open land can disappear and just how important it is to protect both our land and our rivers,” Carole said . “I’ve been very impressed with the smooth transition of the Green Earth Institute into The Conservation Foundation, and I find the new Nature Rx initiative of particular interest .”

Another recent addition to our Board of Trustees is Jeanette Press of Lisle . Jeanette is Vice President, Controller and Principal Accounting

Officer for USG Corporation, leading the company’s internal and external financial

accounting and reporting .

Prior to joining USG in 2011, Jeanette spent more than 13 years in the audit practice at KPMG, LLP serving both public and private, multinational corporations in the consumer and industrial markets . While at KPMG, she spent three years in the firm’s Department of Professional Practice in New York City, advising the firm’s audit and advisory professionals and clients on the application of accounting principles, Securities and Exchange Commission rules and regulations, risk management and independence matters .

Jeanette loves open space and feels it is an important area of pride for a community, and she has a special interest in getting younger constituents involved in preserving land and connecting them with The Conservation Foundation’s mission .


Thanks to our incredible sponsors, attendees, Silent Auction donors, bidders and everyone who supported the 2018 Earth Day Benefit Dinner, it was a record year for this vital event! Together this group raised a staggering $180,000! Thank you to our table sponsors:

Platinum Level Sponsors• Christopher B . Burke

Engineering, Ltd .

• Janet & Jim D’Ambrosio

• Itasca Bank & Trust Co .

• Molex Incorporated

• S & E Bramsen Foundation

• Sikich

• Spraying Systems Co .

• Stephen & Liz Van Arsdell

Gold Level Sponsors• EARTHWERKS Land

Improvement & Development Corp .

• Inland Real Estate Group

• Integrated Graphics

Silver Level Sponsors• BP Wash N Go

• Cantigny Park

• Cardno

• Casten for Congress

• Citgo Lemont Refinery

• Pete & Kathie Connolly

• Hon . Pete DiCianni, DuPage County Board, DiCianni Graphics & W!N

• Jeff & Jennifer Duncan

• Engineering Resource Associates, Inc .

• Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

• Forest Preserve District of Kane County

• Forest Preserve District of Will County

• Fox Valley Park District

• Gary Weber & Associates

• Gee-Schussler

• Geosyntec Consultants

• Ben & Lois Heaton

• Invest Aurora

• Kendall County Forest Preserve District

• Paul & Eileen LeFort

• The Pizzo Group

• Tallgrass Restoration, LLC

• V3 Companies

• Edward Vendel

• Waste Management

• Wheaton Bank & Trust

• Wheaton Park District

• Wight & Co .

• Nancy Hamill Winter

• Dennis & Rosemary Wisnosky

Table Hosts• Tom & Tracy Bennington

• Nancy Cinatl & Sue Hervey

• Dickson-Murst Farm Partners

• Friends of Dayton Bluffs

• Carole Koch

• Kaaren Oldfield

• Pat Tauchert

• Jeff & Barb Wehrli

Tent Sponsor• Gerald Subaru

Wall of Wine Sponsor• Community Bank of Elmhurst

Trustee Welcome

Thank you Earth Day Benefit Dinner Supporters


NON-PROFIT ORG .U .S . POSTAGE

PAIDFOX VALLEY, IL

PERMIT NO . 119

THE CONSERVATION FOUNDATIONW e s a v e l a n d . W e s a v e r i v e r s .

10 S 404 Knoch Knolls RoadNaperville, Illinois 60565p 630 428-4500 f 630 428-4599www.theconservationfoundation.org

SM13083 - 07/18: 3000

Upcoming Events

We’re Going For Accreditation!

Farm to Fork Dinner at McDonald FarmSaturday, August 18th, 5pm to 8:30pm, Naperville

This deeply nourishing evening is all about savoring food, nature and pleasant company. Critically-acclaimed Chef Paul Virant will be treating us to an exquisite meal, cooked on-site using locally sourced food, including organic vegetables grown right at McDonald Farm by our Green Earth CSA.

Day at the Dickson-Murst Farm Sunday, August 19th, 9am to 4pm, Montgomery

Put the perfect exclamation point on your summer at this free family day on the farm. Antique tractors, pony rides, crafts and games, food, hayrides, farm demonstrations, barrel train rides, a corn box - what more could you ask for as your summer comes to a close? Admission and parking are free!

We are so pleased to share that we are applying to become officially accredited through the Land Trust Alliance.

Professional accreditation is a mark of distinction, and recognizes land conservation organizations that meet national quality standards for protecting important natural places and working lands forever. As part of our voluntary process of working toward accreditation, a public comment period is now open,

and we wanted to provide you with the opportunity to submit a comment if you desire. To learn more and get submission instructions, visit the What’s New column on the home page of our website!

Visit www.theconservationfoundation.org/events.php for more information and registration details!

a fox river testimony - the conservation foundation · 2019-11-22 · greatest land protection...

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