September 12, 2021 Update from the Mayor
Ribbon Cutting for Pollinator Garden
On Friday, September 10 , the city hosted a ribbon cutting to official open our community’s new pollinator garden located at 91st Place and 92nd Street. The City was awarded $10,000 from the 2020 Com Ed Green Region Program in support of our Triangle Pollinator Habitat. As part of its grant program, ComEd works with the OpenLands organization to select qualified governmental agency projects that protect and improve natural places, with a special focus on pollinator conservation. The City matched funds for this project of $15,000. Please be sure to stop by and enjoy this beautiful pollinator garden and gazebo. A big thank you to ComEd, OpenLands and our public works department for creating such a beautiful location. Pictured from left to right: Alderman Scott Zimmerman, Alderman Henry Kman, Emily Reusswig of Openlands, Mayor Mike Howley, Comed’s Phil Halliburton, Alderman Brian Fonte and Alderman Debbie Ferrero.
Girl Scouts Honored at City Council Meeting
Sarah DuMoulin of Hickory Hills and Allison Schmidt of Palos Hills, both from Girl Scout troop #50674, have been awarded the Girl Scout Gold Award- the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. The Girl Scout Gold Award is the most prestigious award in the world for innovative, go-getting girls. Only 5% of Girl Scouts meet the rigorous peer review process to earn it. Through their Gold Award, Girl Scouts tackle a local/global issue and create a sustainable solution. Dating back to 1916, the award gives girls a platform to improve their communities—and the world.
For their Gold Award, both girls decided to address the issue of pollinator decline. They did this by constructing and planting pollinator gardens. Allison turned a 1/3 acre “forest’ at the Church of the Transfiguration in Palos Park into a pollinator garden using native Illinois plants. This two-year project included clearing invasive species from the site, spreading wood chips to create a base and planting native species. Sarah turned a 12′ x 24′ area in the north lawn at A.A. Stagg High School in Palos Hills into a pollinator garden. This three-year project included adding 7 cubic feet of top soil to make a raised planting bed consisting of 54 plants made up of 9 types of Illinois native sun loving perennial plants.
Not only did the girls construct the gardens, they also helped to educate the people in the community. Allison did this by working with the preschoolers, church goers and other adult groups that utilize the church. Sarah wrote several articles for Staggline, the school newspaper, and the Stagg online newsletter. These articles promoted the need for pollinator gardens and educated individuals on the decline of pollinators and why they are so important to our environment and society.
Sarah and Allison are Seniors at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School. Both girls collectively spent well over 200 hours researching, planning, communicating, budgeting, and leading their teams to complete their projects. These two girls have persevered in their efforts to change the world for the better. They are proud to call themselves Girl Scouts for the last 12 years and they embody the definition of a Girl Scout: a “Go-getter, an Innovator, a Risk-taker, a Leader”.
Allison and Sarah are pictured below at a recent city council meeting.
Kathryn DuMoulin and Samantha Reynolds from Hickory Hills, and Angel Bixby from Brookfield, all from Girl Scout Cadette Troop #55410, have earned the outstanding Girl Scout Silver Award which is the highest award a Girl Scout Cadette can receive. In order to receive this award, the girls first had to complete a Girl Scout Cadette leadership journey badge. The troop worked on the Cadette “aMAZE” journey badge.The journey talks about how to develop true friendships, navigate cliques, and move beyond stereotypes, with the ultimate goal of peace in your interpersonal relationships. Over the course of several meetings, the girls freely shared their thoughts and ideas pertaining to the topics of bullying, peer pressure, cliques and gender stereotypes. After completing the badge work, the girls will worked on the “take action” portion of this journey. It was comprised of two parts. First, they made posters for the Green Hills Public Library. The posters promoted anti-bullying, kindness, and respecting one’s space. The posters were hung in the library’s teen space. Second, each girl completed 100 random acts of kindness. Each girl logged each act and at the end, summarized their thoughts about the project, how it made them feel, and why it’s so important to promote kindness in today’s society.
After earning the journey badge, the girls began focusing on a way to make a difference in their community. The girls decided the Silver Award would be earned through a community take action service project to help animals in local area shelters. In order to fund their projects, the girls sold hundreds of Girl Scout cookies and nut and candy items through fundraisers over the past two years. For their Silver Award project, the girls collectively spent over 160 hours of their time researching, purchasing, seeking donations and creating cat and dog toys and blankets. For each type of item that was made, the girls wrote detailed instructions. These instructions, along with a sample of each of the 6 pet toys and blankets were put on display at the Green Hills Public Library this summer. Patrons could see first-hand the items the girls were working on and were able to take home a copy of the instructions so they could make it themselves. In total the troop made 20 dog blankets, 15 cat blankets, 29 dog bottle toys, 24 cat feather toys, 1 cat scratcher made from corrugated cardboard boxes, 20 cat sock toys, and over 1000 braided dog toys made from recycled t-shirts and jeans. On August 21, the girls delivered all of these items to two local area shelters: CatNap from the Heart in LaGrange Park and the Hinsdale Humane Society. Both organizations were thrilled to receive all the handmade items from the troop.
Congratulations to these amazing Girl Scouts!
Kathryn, Samantha and Angel are pictured below at a recent city council meeting.
Roberts Road Construction Project
The Cook County Highway Department has reported that the resurfacing of Roberts Road should be completed in early October. After numerous delays we are all looking forward to a safe, newly paved Roberts Road prior to the winter weather.
Car Wash Fundraiser on Saturday, September 18 to Support the Conrady Music Department
Don’t Mess With That Dog
Take Down
Stay Safe,
Mayor Mike