Newsletter – August 2007

Calumet Heritage Partnership

To identify, preserve and reclaim the natural, historical and recreational heritage

of the Calumet region of Illinois and Indiana

13300 S. Baltimore, Chicago, Illinois 60633      (773) 646-0436      www.calumetheritage.org

The next meeting of the Calumet Heritage Partnership  will be held –

Thursday, August 16, 2007

7:00 p.m.

at the Hammond Public Library, Suzanne Long History Room

564 State Street, Hammond, Indiana

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ACTION UPDATE

HERITAGE CONFERENCE DATE CHANGED:  Mark your calendar!  Our Annual Heritage Conference is now definitely scheduled for the second Saturday in October, October 13, with the theme:  “Beyond Artifacts:  The Living Element in Industrial Heritage Areas.”

TRUE NORTH FESTIVAL:  The Chicago/Calumet Underground Railroad Effort (C/CURE) will present its True North Festival on August 18 and 19 at the Jan Ton Farm Site, 900 block of East 134^th Street in Chicago, on the bank of the Little Calumet River.  The Ton Farm was an important station on the Underground Railroad, and C/CURE has a dream of creating a historic farmhouse and village on the site.

HISTORIC INGOT  MOLD NOW AT PULLMAN STATE HISTORIC SITE:   Thanks to Dr. Raymond Boothe, a historic ingot mold from Indiana Harbor West is now at the Pullman State Historic Site, waiting for the Calumet industrial history museum that is being created there.

PRESERVE OUR NATURAL HERITAGE:  Our natural heritage, with its remarkable variety of native flora and fauna, is of course the most ancient part of our heritage.  Some species have been here as long as 10,000 years, following the retreat of the glacier.  Some species have become extinct due to lack of care.  Some are endangered, threatened or rare.  It takes constant work and vigilance to preserve, improve and create the kind of natural landscape that the Calumet region deserves.

Powderhorn Prairie, east of Hegewisch on Brainard Avenue, will enjoy a Stewardship Work Day on Saturday, August 18, 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon, sponsored by the Calumet Stewardship Initiative.  A  Wildflower Walk, sponsored by Friends of the Parks, will happen at 10:30 a.m.  For more information, call Rebecca Blazer at (312) 857-2757, or visit www.FOTP.org.

Stewardship Workdays at Beaubien Woods  Forest Preserve are conducted  on the first Saturday of each month , 9:00 a.m. to 12 p.m., by Friends of the Forest Preserves, Friends of the Parks, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, and Field Museum.  For more  information, contact Christy Page at (312) 665-7443, or e-mail [email protected].