The Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool project will always be our most sentimental project.  We feel proud to maintain it every day with our dedicated staff and educate visitors with our volunteer docent program.

To watch a video about the restoration of the Lily Pool with interviews of Alfred Caldwell, please visit our You Tube channel:  www.youtube.com/lincolnpkconservancy

 

The invasive species and litter didn't stand a chance against the 90 volunteers at our 12th Annual Earth Day at the North Pond Nature Sanctuary on Saturday, April 21st.  They worked in the East Savanna and West Prairie removing winter weeds and raking our leaf debris so spring wildflowers would get the sun needed to grow.  Volunteers also picked up litter around the pond and surrounding park area.

We were pleased to welcome our North Pond Gardeners, volunteers from the Park West
Association, and groups from Americorps, Build On, and Chicago Cares.

Thanks to all the wonderful volunteers and organizations for pitching in to help with
spring clean-up around the pond.

North Pond Restaurant chef/owner, Bruce Sherman, was awarded the James Beard Award for Best Chef Great Lakes Region.  The James Beard Awards are the highest honor for food and beverage professionals working in North America.  Presented each spring at Lincoln Center in New York City, the nominees and winners are feted at a grand awards event.  This is Mr. Sherman's first win and fifth nomination.  Better make your reservations now - North Pond has always been our favorite restaurant in the city, but Mr. Sherman's win now puts it on the national map.

 

As part of Alderman Michelle Smith's first annual Green Week in the 43rd Ward, we are offering a free wildflower walk at the North Pond Nature Sanctuary.

Join our naturalists for a guided tour of North Pond's beautiful wildflowers.  Learn about the benefits of native wildflowers and how to identify them.  This easy, 45-minute walk is great for beginners as well as the experienced.

Turtle nesting season has begun at the North Pond and Lily Pool.  On your walks in the vicinity of these sites, you may see adult turtles hauled out on the shorelines or traveling slowly across lawn areas to find that "perfect" nesting site to lay eggs.

It's important the animals in the nature sanctuary be allowed their natural way of life. 

Here's how you can help the turtles have a successful nesting season:

1. Don't interfere.  Unless a turtle is about to cross a busy street,  please allow them the time and space they need to find their nesting site - even if the site doesn't seem perfect to you.  If you have the time, it can be helpful in our busy urban environment to stay with the nesting turtle until she is finished covering her nest to ensure other park users do not interfere.
2. Report nest locations to us.  If our staff knows the nest locations, we will be able to keep an eye out for the hatching to ensure the baby turtles find their way safely to the pond.  Knowing the turtle species that successfully breed and hatch will assist us to be better managers of these wonderful natural areas.

After losing two trees to storm damage and hearing complaints about the homeless using the honeysuckle bushes as a bathroom, the area between the Sunshine Playlot and North Pond Restaurant is being re-designed.

The Chicago Park District, Lincoln Park Conservancy, and North Pond Restaurant have joined together to create a beautiful, formal native-plant garden on the site.  A new bur oak tree (or two) will be added to the top of the slope.  The garden will be maintained by the Lincoln Park Conservancy.  Installation is expected to begin in July.

• The water lilies are in bloom at the Lily Pool.
• It's duckling season.   Wood Ducks, Mallards and other waterfowl have hatched their broods.
• Butterfly milkweed is in bloom in North Pond's West Prairie.
• Queen of the Prairie is budding in North Pond's North Prairie !  

 

 

On Thursday, June 21st musicians will be playing free music in 110 countries and 460 cities around the world as part of the global Make Music Day.  Here in Chicago, there will be 700 musicians at 75 indoor and outdoor sites.  We'll be participating with The Sidekicks performing in front of the Lincoln Park Conservatory from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.  A sampling of this music will be broadcast all day on 98.7 WFMT, including a three-hour finale being performed at St. James Cathedral, Chicago.

 

To learn more about this global musical holiday, please visit their website www.makemusicchicago.com

 

Saturday June 23

• The Lincoln Park Conservancy's North Pond Gardeners Workday in the East Savanna - 10 a.m. to Noon.
• Chicago Summerfest Lincoln Park - Noon to 10 p.m. with outdoor music.  Expect noise, street closures and parking restrictions on the south end of Lincoln Park West, and Clark Street near Armitage. 

Sunday, June 24 

• Chicago 43rd Annual Pride Parade - kicks off at Noon.  The parade terminus will at Diversey Parkway and Cannon Drive again this year - expect noise, street closures and parking restrictions throughout the route. 
• Chicago Summerfest Lincoln Park - Noon to 10 p.m. with outdoor music.  Expect noise, street closures and parking restrictions on the south end of Lincoln Park West, and Clark Street near Armitage. 

You are receiving this email because you are a valued member of the Lincoln Park Conservancy community.  If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, please contact us at (773) 883-PARK or info@lincolnparkconservancy.org.