Retired teacher Georgette Gladstone and college student Caleb Warner are separated in age by nearly two generations but linked by a firm bond to Park Forest — the only place they have ever called “home.”
As head of the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board, Gladstone has taken a lead role in promoting the village’s parks as one of the great amenities of Park Forest. Prairie State College student Warner has been a mentor and role model to the community’s youth as a coach in sports programs ranging from baseball and basketball to golf.
The volunteer efforts of both recently were recognized when each was named a winner of the village’s “Good Egg” award. The honor is the equivalent of a Citizen of the Year accolade, but Park Forest opens it to anyone who works for the betterment of the community. It was first presented in 1973 to the late Harry Teshima, who helped spearhead the village’s groundbreaking integration efforts in the 1950s.
When Gladstone applied to become a member of the parks board, she became not only its newest appointee but also its chair. As a cheerleader for the parks, she researched other communities for their best ideas and sought to adopt them. The parks, she said in her acceptance, are “how communities take care of each other, and if you want to see how it can be done, take a walk in the wetlands.”
The village’s Human Relations Commission sponsors the award in an effort to recognize leadership and community service. Chair Alfreda Keller, who presented the awards, could not get Warner to speak, but village Trustee Mae Brandon saw his efforts as “a good sign of what there is for our youth.”
Returning guests
Over the holidays, our sometimes-neighbors, the Squirrels, decided our grounds were the nearly perfect place to raise their three little ones. And why not? We do not turn guests away from our door, let alone our back yard. As long as these bushy-tailed visitors set up living quarters in the nearby trees and do not invade the garage or attic, they are entitled to their squirrelly lifestyle.
The woman of our house insisted Mister and Missus Squirrel are the same two who, last spring, learned how to leap from the garage roof to bird feeders and scramble up and down the slim, 6-foot-high metal poles on which the feeders hang.
“Squirrel birds,” she called them.
She was asked how she knew these were the two seed robbers.
“I know,” was the reply in a voice tinged with the sadness of realizing she was replying to a person of little intellect in these matters.
When it comes to food, it must be noted that squirrels and birds co-exist. Cardinals, sparrows, juncos and even an occasional starling make way for a clambering rodent. When sated, Mom or Pop departs and the birds quickly fly back for a quick snack. Peanuts on the ground far from the feeder help keep order. Meanwhile, the carefree squirrel kids happily bounce along the fence tops or chase each other up and down a nearby tree.
“A squirrel nest is called a ‘drey,’ ” the woman of the house volunteered.
“Of course,” was the reply. “Who didn’t know that?”
Jerry Shnay is a freelance writer who covers the Park Forest community for the Daily Southtown. He can be emailed at [email protected].
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