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The Peopling of the Americas

Sunday, November 14, 1:00pm
Free event @ the Historic Prairie House, 11225 Constitution Drive, Westchester


Presenter: Dr. E.J. Neafsey

15,000 years ago, a warming period melted the thick ice that had long covered the Bering Strait. To the hunter-gatherers of Asia, it meant access to a new world. This meant new hunting grounds had opened up for them, a society that relied on animals for food and clothing. Once they crossed the Straits, how far south did they travel? What do we know about them? Can their descendants be traced? Find out what scientists have learned about them using DNA samples and by studying the ancient artifacts traced to the time of their exodus.

Photos from the 2021 Prairie Fest!

Thanks to everyone who contributed to and attended this year’s Prairie Fest! The weather was perfect and the prairie vibrant, with wonderful entertainment and creative vendors.

A Remarkable Man: Carl Ethan Akley (1884 – 1926)

Sunday, October 24, 1:00pm
Free event @ the Historic Prairie House, 11225 Constitution Drive, Westchester


With only a 3rd grade education Akley became an inventor, nature photographer, explorer, and adventurer (one who never lost his cool). He was a highly respected conservationist, taxidermist, sculpture and biologist. He had a major influence on the Field Museum as well as other prominent museums. But creating the first gorilla sanctuary in Africa gave him the most satisfaction. Our presenter, Jack MacRay, has narrated many of our programs and has never disappointed us.

Insect Safari

Sunday, September 12, 1:00pm
$5 for adults, children are free @ the Historic Prairie House, 11225 Constitution Drive, Westchester


Join in the fun with Professor Michael Rush. Using the nets provided by Save The Prairie Society, participants will be able to catch a variety of insects. We will then identify and study them. In the end, we will release them back onto the Prairie.

Note: wear sturdy shoes and long pants.

The Annual Old Fashioned Prairie Fest

Saturday, September 11, 10:00am to 4:00pm
Free event @ the Historic Prairie House, 11225 Constitution Drive, Westchester


Save the Prairie Society’s invites you to a free community event: The Annual Old Fashioned Prairie Fest! at the parkway of the Prairie House. Rain date September 18.

Featuring:

  • Cold-blooded animals exhibit from Cross Town Exotics
  • 20 crafters and artists selling hand-made articles
  • Dulcimer players
  • Shannon Adam’s band
  • Display of beautiful, hand-made quilts
  • Spinning wheel demonstration
  • Prairie volunteer tent
  • Enjoy good food and drinks
  • Buy tickets to win one of our 8 gift baskets
  • Guided tour of the highest quality mesic prairie east of the Mississippi
  • The Historic Prairie House will be open to all – learn about the history of the house and the people who lived there as well as the architecture and history found in the enclosed 1853 schoolhouse   

Polskie Radio1030 Chicago Tours the WRP

A Polish TV film crew toured the Wolf Road Prairie last week to to highlight the importance of the prairie ecosystems! Most of the video is in Polish, but the latter portion features an English-language tour of the Franzosenbusch Prairie House with STPS Director Rita McCabe.

Save The Prairie Society’s July Event – Don’t Squash That Bug

July 25th, 1:00pm
Free event @ the Historic Prairie House, 11225 Constitution Drive, Westchester


Speaker: Insect specialist James Rowan

We see insects in our gardens and when we take our walks in the neighborhood. Most of us enjoy seeing the fireflies, the pollinators, and the butterflies. Our July guest speaker hopes to broaden our appreciation of those insects that are unfamiliar to us, even though they play an important role in keeping our ecosystem healthy. The more we know about the natural world the more interesting it is.

Note: The historic Prairie House is air conditioned.

Gardens of the Desert: An Introduction to Illinois Prairies

June 27th, 1:00pm
@ the Historic Prairie House, 11225 Constitution Drive, Westchester


Speaker: Jack Shouba, who worked tirelessly to Save Wolf Road Prairie before the State of Illinois’ IDNR and Cook County Forest Preserves stepped to insure that it would remain prairie.

Slide Presentation: Called “the most beautiful country imaginable” by French explorer Pierre Liette, and “gardens of the desert” by poet William Cullen Bryant, the Illinois prairie is all but gone and the word prairie has lost its meaning. We are still “the prairie state,” but today it is Silicon Prairie, not Silphium prairie. In this program we explore the question of just what is an Illinois prairie and we look at how the relationships of people to the prairie changed over time. We look at prairie plants and their adaptations, prairie animals, and the role of fire. We search for places that still contain scraps of prairie, and consider why we must save these precious remnants. The program includes “Prairie Reverie,” a humorous look at the (mis)use and misspelling of the word prairie.

May Flower Walk

May 13th, 10:00am
@ the Historic Prairie House, 11225 Constitution Drive, Westchester


Celebrate The Merry Month of May

Spring flowers are now blooming at Wolf Road Prairie. Save The Prairie Society would like to share the colorful spring beauty of our native flowers with you.
We will be hosting a Wolf Road Prairie walk both in the Savanna and the Prairie on May 13 @10 am.

Participants can park in one of the three parking bays on the north side of 31st Street just west of Wolf Road.

A great opportunity for all ages to learn the land we live on and connect with the other organisms that call it home and depend on it.

Village Free Press: Westchester Stakeholders Mobilizing To Block Townhome Development Near Prairie Nature Preserve

A group of Westchester residents and stakeholders are pushing back against a developer’s plan to build a luxury townhome community on 15 acres of land adjacent to the roughly 80-acre Wolf Road Prairie Nature Preserve and the 43-acre Hickory Lane buffer lands — an area known worldwide for its biodiversity and soil composition.

Wyatt Widmer, a board director of the Save the Prairie Society — a nonprofit chartered in 1975 that’s dedicated to protecting the rare black soil prairie in Westchester — said he’s been conducting research on the proposed development’s potential environmental effects.

Read the full article.

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Upcoming Events

Jun
11
Sun
3:00 pm Weekly Open House @ The Historic Prairie House
Weekly Open House @ The Historic Prairie House
Jun 11 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Weekly Open House @ The Historic Prairie House
Sundays, 3:00-5:00pm @ the Historic Prairie House, 11225 Constitution Drive, Westchester Masks encouraged Westchester’s Oldest House: an 1853 Midwest Farmhouse surrounded by native prairie. What Lies Within? A Hand-hewed timber framed schoolhouse and adjacent teacher’s quarters.[...]
Jun
18
Sun
3:00 pm Weekly Open House @ The Historic Prairie House
Weekly Open House @ The Historic Prairie House
Jun 18 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Weekly Open House @ The Historic Prairie House
Sundays, 3:00-5:00pm @ the Historic Prairie House, 11225 Constitution Drive, Westchester Masks encouraged Westchester’s Oldest House: an 1853 Midwest Farmhouse surrounded by native prairie. What Lies Within? A Hand-hewed timber framed schoolhouse and adjacent teacher’s quarters.[...]
Jun
25
Sun
3:00 pm Weekly Open House @ The Historic Prairie House
Weekly Open House @ The Historic Prairie House
Jun 25 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Weekly Open House @ The Historic Prairie House
Sundays, 3:00-5:00pm @ the Historic Prairie House, 11225 Constitution Drive, Westchester Masks encouraged Westchester’s Oldest House: an 1853 Midwest Farmhouse surrounded by native prairie. What Lies Within? A Hand-hewed timber framed schoolhouse and adjacent teacher’s quarters.[...]
Jul
2
Sun
3:00 pm Weekly Open House @ The Historic Prairie House
Weekly Open House @ The Historic Prairie House
Jul 2 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Weekly Open House @ The Historic Prairie House
Sundays, 3:00-5:00pm @ the Historic Prairie House, 11225 Constitution Drive, Westchester Masks encouraged Westchester’s Oldest House: an 1853 Midwest Farmhouse surrounded by native prairie. What Lies Within? A Hand-hewed timber framed schoolhouse and adjacent teacher’s quarters.[...]
Jul
9
Sun
3:00 pm Weekly Open House @ The Historic Prairie House
Weekly Open House @ The Historic Prairie House
Jul 9 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Weekly Open House @ The Historic Prairie House
Sundays, 3:00-5:00pm @ the Historic Prairie House, 11225 Constitution Drive, Westchester Masks encouraged Westchester’s Oldest House: an 1853 Midwest Farmhouse surrounded by native prairie. What Lies Within? A Hand-hewed timber framed schoolhouse and adjacent teacher’s quarters.[...]

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