Two Places To Visit

While I was working the Republican Booth at the DuPage County Fair on Wednesday, I noticed across the aisle was the USDA Forest Service. So I walked across the way to see what they were hawking. They were there to promote the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. The Prairie is close to DuPage and has 19,000 acres of open space. That is about 3/4 of the land owned by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. They are reclaiming and restoring the prairie from its recent use as the U.S. Army's Joliet Arsenal. It will be interesting to see this project develop.

'Midewin' is the Potawatomi word for healing. I guess the concept is that the restoration will allow the land to 'heal'. Still, the expectation is that the healing will take 20 years or more. Little by little, it will get better and better. I look forward to watching this prairie mature.

Back to the Fair...

The DuPage County Fair runs through the weekend. If you get a chance, you should check it out. It is at the DuPage County Fairground, just west of County Farm Rd. on Manchester, in Wheaton. It has carnival rides, tons of food, education booths (check out the Forest Preserve District's booth.), show animals, etc. with blue ribbons aplenty. I heard that one booth will let you milk a cow! I guarantee you, that will give you a new appreciation for earlier generations that did not have the convenience of a convenience store. And it is affordable. $6 for adults, $1 ages 3-8, free for those under 3. A good time should be had by all.