STORIES about the PRESERVE

Virtual Geocaching: an interactive walk

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If you are into the booming app of Geocache and are in the mood for a beautiful hike in nature, this trail is for you. The preserve is a great opportunity for an amazing virtual geocache trail, with great views of Lake Mendota and pieces of the past that not many people know about. My name is Aaron, I am 12 and I decided to take it upon myself to make a great geocaching trail for everyone else, kids and adults alike to enjoy the preserve. I visit here all the time and I always enjoy walking around the preserve. I want other kids my age to enjoy the wonders of the preserve and because Geocaching is so popular I thought making a trail would be a great way to attract Geocachers. I would recommend this trail for anyone who loves nature, adventure and Geocaching.Click here to see main page.

Painting the Big Oak: a story unfolding

Recently, Arlene Koziol brought her friend and water colorist Peggy Macnamara to the Lakeshore Nature Preserve to draw in the woods. Peggy was inspired by the beloved Big Oak at Frautschi Point. She comments on the challenge of capturing the woods in art.

"I am often asked about "Color."  People wonder what systems I use or who I read... what exercises did I do?  The fact is, I did what the painters before me did.  I painted outside.  I took a year early on and went to the same spot outside and recorded what I saw.  This was richer than any color class. This experience was an honest way into color...observation of nature and light.  Painting outside will train you to see  subtle differences in the varieties of greens, complex browns and greys, as well as the power of light. You will learn how the light effects the color.  You will also learn how the color is determined by what is next to it and the relativity of color which creates complexities of composition. Forests, open land,  ponds, lakes and rivers can only be given their due with direct and sustained observation."

Peggy Macnamara is the only artist-in-residence at the Field Museum in Chicago and adjunct associate professor at the School of Art Institute of Chicago. Her magnificent watercolors bring creatures to life in her books on migrating birds and insects. It will take Peggy some time and many visits to capture the essence of the Big Oak and express it in her art. For her, every watercolor begins with a drawing. You see her working on her first sketch in plein air. Glenda Denniston, guardian of the Oak, is delighted. We will report as the story is unfolding.
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Peggy and Glenda. Photo A. Koziol
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Peggy Macamara sketching the Big Oak. June 2014. Photo Arlene Koziol

1Oth Anniversary of the Friends in 2011

Enjoy this Collection of Quotes from long-time members of the Friends to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our volunteer organisation

My Photo walk at Frautschi Point

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I'm a five year old boy and my grammy gave me a really nice red camera to photograph what I like on our walk. We went after a rainstorm, so I wore my boots. Then she made a book for me from my photos and added the words. Thank you Grammy.



"If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I would ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life." – Rachel Carson
The Preserve is a place where fond memories are made, where people connect to nature, where people learn to love natural things, like plants, birds, views, rocks, insects. 

This page is a place for you to share your story with the Friends and followers.