Neighbors feted for helping preserve land
Preserving open space and Kane County's rural heritage takes more than money.
Five neighbors near Harley Woods in Campton Township will be given the Cooperators for Campton's Preservation Award from the Garfield Farm Museum tonight for coming together to ensure the woods and surrounding area didn't become a housing development.
The five children of the late Lawrence and Helen Motz of Campton Township will be honored for agreeing to sell 55 acres of the family farm to the township's Headwaters Open Space area.
"It's remarkable to get a family that has one vision," said Jerome Johnson, the museum's executive director.
Garfield Farm Museum was established in 1977 on 163 acres of land in LaFox. It is being restored as an 1840s working farm museum, in addition to preserving and restoring prairies and wetlands.
Guests at the dinner will also remember longtime supporter Margeurite H. Ball of Geneva. The widow of a Ball Seed Co. executive, she left nearly $1 million to the museum's endowment fund when she died last April.
"She was very concerned about land preservation," Johnson said. The museum is trying to build a $10 million endowment, the interest of which would be used for operational expenses.
The Wayne Historical Preservation Society is getting the Historic Preservation Award for saving, moving and restoring a railroad depot.
And Benjamin Peterson of North Aurora will receive the first Historic Administration Scholarship, for students pursuing master's degree work.
Johnson has worked for years to preserve open space, both with the museum's Campton Historic Agricultural Lands affiliate and with Campton Township officials.
The township has several years to acquire land after voters approve open space bonds. The minimum project size, by law, is 50 acres.
That's what made getting seven landowners of 13 parcels totaling 70 acres to agree to sell or grant conservation easements extraordinary.
"I was just walking that property (Harley Woods) the other day, and thought it was just a miracle," Johnson said.
The awards banquet is at 6 p.m. at Dunham Woods Riding Club in Wayne. Tickets are $50. Call (630) 584-8485 or send an e-mail to info@garfieldfarm.org.