Morton Arboretum offers numerous winter events

Just because a large portion of the trees are now bare at the Morton Arboretum doesn't mean the outdoor museum's events calendar is empty, too.

All this month, and through Jan. 2, the arboretum is hosting several holiday happenings designed to bring joy to the whole family, both indoors and outdoors, daily from 7 a.m. to sunset.

“You can stay in your car if you don't feel like getting out and just drive through the woods and look at the different landscapes we have here, or you can actually get out and do active things,” said Marilyn Baysek, special events manager for the arboretum.

The most popular active event every winter is the Yule Log Hunt, which is in its 33rd year. Visitors typically go on their search for the log with their list of rhyming clues in January, but Baysek said the event will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 26, this holiday season because of a number of requests to move it closer to Christmas.

“We expect a lot of people with out-of-town family and friends to come on out,” she said.

According to Baysek, the Yule log tradition goes back to a Pagan practice of finding a log in the woods, burning one half and hiding the other under a bed to prevent the house being struck by lightning.

At the arboretum's hunt, an award ceremony for the log finders will invite participants to enjoy a bonfire, some spicy ale called wassail and caroling. Parents also can bring their little adventurers to the Children's Garden between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the same day for a self-guided Yule Twig Hunt.

For those who would rather stay inside, a visit to see the “Enchanted Railroad” at the Visitor Center between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily is a family favorite. The model train display consists of 430 feet of track that winds through scenes depicting various forests of the world. A 7-foot-tall tree with a globe placed in its branches is this year's railroad centerpiece.

“The tree represents Mother Earth and how important trees are to the sustaining of life on our planet,” Baysek said. “The theme is different, but the concept is the same.”

After checking out the railroad, visitors can gaze at several indoor holiday trees decorated by professional artists, designers and the arboretum's botanical arrangers to the theme “Woodland's Haven.”

Throughout the month there also will be entertainment for both adults and children, such as a visit by the Cat in the Hat Saturday, Dec. 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to celebrate the new Learning Library book series. Seven scheduled breakfasts with Santa already are sold out.

Men who still need to find that perfect gift for the women in their lives might have some luck at the Arboretum Store from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 16. The “Beer and Baubles Men's Shopping Night” will feature Patricia Locke jewelry and includes free gift wrapping, snacks and samples of beer from Warrenville's Two Brothers Brewery.

And visitors who simply want to admire nature's beauty up close in the winter are welcome to view all the arboretum's trees on their own cross country skis, or to rent snowshoes when there are more than four inches of snow on the ground, Baysek said.

“The trees are (in) a unique time of year,” she explained. “Other than the conifers, they don't have leaves on them. We have lots of classes that call attention just to the branching and the architecture of the trees because they're really quite lovely when you see them without their greenery.”

<p><b>If you go<b></p>

<p>What: Holiday highlights at the Arboretum</p>

<p>When: Through Jan. 2</p>

<p>Where: Morton Arboretum, 4100 Route 53, Lisle</p>

<p>Cost: $11 adults, $10 seniors, $8 children, free for ages 2 and younger; discounts on Wednesdays and free admission on Christmas</p>

<p>Info: mortonarb.org</p>