Lombard’s Prairie Days mixes fun, learning
Dozens of people filled Terrace View Park in Lombard Sunday to enjoy food, live music and the unique pleasures offered by Mother Nature.
The ninth annual Prairie Days event ran from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the park. The event was organized by the Lombard Garden Club, with help from the Lombard Park District and the Lombard Historical Society.
“The attendance has been wonderful. We couldn’t have asked for a better day,” said Pat Poskocil, a former president of the Garden Club. “You know, this is just a nice relaxing fest for families to enjoy — you can see all the little ones here. We love putting this together.”
Organizers make a special effort to attract families to Prairie Days, offering games, face-painting and other activities geared toward children.
There’s an educational component to the event as well. Prairie Days featured a variety of exhibits about the environment and conservation.
One exhibit, for example, put a group of invasive plant species — Canada thistle, Common Buckthorn and Giant Foxtail among them — inside a metal “jail” next to brochures that explained how the plants hurt desirable native species.
In another exhibit, representatives of Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation brought and discussed several kinds of wild birds, including owls.
Erin Kennedy attended the event as a representative of SCARCE, a Glen Ellyn organization that provides environmental education to schools and other groups in the region.
“These kinds of events help us get the word out about what we do, and today’s been great. Lots of people have come up to ask about us,” she said.