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| Open House at Egerman Woods |
This picture is of my neighbor Tina and me from a really long time ago! The pic is so old that when it was taken many of you weren't even born yet!
It was early 1970's when my friends, our family and many neighbors in our country neighborhood in Naperville, went to bat (through the legal system and a court case) to preserve our neighborhood woods named Egerman Woods.
I imagine it was (and is) called Egerman because of a family that once lived here, who owned the woods and nearby land. A small house, years ago, sat just up -what's now called 'old' -College Rd, and I'd be willing to bet whoever owned that little house owned the woods, too.
I imagine it was (and is) called Egerman because of a family that once lived here, who owned the woods and nearby land. A small house, years ago, sat just up -what's now called 'old' -College Rd, and I'd be willing to bet whoever owned that little house owned the woods, too.
Remembering back in time rumors were spreading about an apartment complex someone wanted to sink into the middle of the woods (pictured just beyond the BLACK OAK tree my sign and I are pointing at!) I really can't remember much about this picture except that as the rumors went from gossip to reality we kicked into hyper-drive action and quickly held what you might call 'Egerman Open House!'...for the woods that bordered our backyard.
Caring about trees, grasses, wetlands, and native creatures wasn't part of the developers concern, that’s where we came into play! Developers, their concern had only to do with man-made things like blacktop roads, concrete basements and wooden structures. Lots of details I probably never understood; what I did totally get was that the horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, from the whole thing, made me sick.
With the woods just steps from my backyard, to me it was my very own sanctuary. Egerman Woods with its trails, low water areas and triple-crown oak trees were more than a bunch of trees and dirt. This area was a 'pre-settlement' oak forest meaning it's practically one of a kind in these days of massive cities and towns!
My fascination with trees began about the time I was four years old when my family and I moved to northern Illinois. Dad and I were making trips to the local nursery to study the possibilities for plantings in our new yard. At four years old I was growing my own mini veggie garden, studying wild onions, drawing landscape plans for the backyard and growing flowers. Then there were the silver maple seeds. One easy to grow silver maple soon became a fixture in our backyard so that when we moved to Kammes Dr. near Egerman Woods my dad and I transplanted that silver maple onto our property. (Last time I visited my old house that transplanted silver maple was still there, too!)
With the woods just steps from my backyard, to me it was my very own sanctuary. Egerman Woods with its trails, low water areas and triple-crown oak trees were more than a bunch of trees and dirt. This area was a 'pre-settlement' oak forest meaning it's practically one of a kind in these days of massive cities and towns!
My fascination with trees began about the time I was four years old when my family and I moved to northern Illinois. Dad and I were making trips to the local nursery to study the possibilities for plantings in our new yard. At four years old I was growing my own mini veggie garden, studying wild onions, drawing landscape plans for the backyard and growing flowers. Then there were the silver maple seeds. One easy to grow silver maple soon became a fixture in our backyard so that when we moved to Kammes Dr. near Egerman Woods my dad and I transplanted that silver maple onto our property. (Last time I visited my old house that transplanted silver maple was still there, too!)
Loving trees was one thing, but suddenly it was about legal rights, court cases, and, well, finding the right outfits to wear during the week of court proceedings we went through to save the woods! Funny, I remember more about the clothes I wore for these events than some of the actually events of the day! I guess that's how life goes!
Today my old house that borders Egerman is still there, but its no longer considered to be in Naperville, it is officially Lisle, IL. Lots of things have changed but not EGERMAN WOODS! Check it out:
http://www.recreationparks.net/IL/du-page/eggerman-woods-county-forest-preserve-farmsted
If you look closely you'll find the small pond that I mentioned yesterday in my blog post, the pond where we skated!
If you look closely you'll find the small pond that I mentioned yesterday in my blog post, the pond where we skated!
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