January 13, 2024 meting
by Marsha Gebhardt, President, St. Louis Chapter
The Board of Wild Ones St. Louis (STL) Chapter is excited to announce the re-establishment of the Wild Ones Southwestern Illinois (SWIL) Chapter! This is one of two ‘sister chapters’ we have helped initiate and continue to support. The other is the now-thriving St. Charles Area Chapter (2019).
History
The original SWIL Chapter was chartered late in 2014. It had strong leaders and active members, many of whom are still members of the St. Louis chapter and/or active with other mission-related organizations in Illinois. The Wild Ones SWIL Chapter became inactive in 2017 because they couldn’t find replacements for a couple of officers who needed to step down. That was almost seven years ago.
Today
Awareness and interest in native plant landscaping has dramatically increased. There are now about 50 Wild Ones members with local Illinois addresses. There is a lot of great work going on in the Southwestern region of Illinois. A Wild Ones SWIL chapter can help connect people and organizations in Illinois, to further the shared missions. A few examples:
· Willoughby Heritage Farm and Conservation Reserve, City of Collinsville
· Great Rivers Pollinator Habitat Partnership, at Riverlands
· Sierra Club in Alton
· Master Gardener and Master Naturalist Chapters
Next Steps
Wild Ones SWIL is now officially a seedling chapter. On January 13, Carol Frerker, Superintendent of Willoughby Heritage Farm, held a meeting at their farmhouse to discuss and initiate the process of becoming a chartered chapter. Four Wild Ones STL board members attended to offer advice and support. A number of Wild Ones STL members attended and were excited about the renewed chapter.
Chartering will require having at least 10 members. Any St. Louis chapter members in Illinois are encouraged to transfer their membership to the SWIL chapter. Sister chapter members will continue to have access to STL chapter events and may use the STL Speakers Bureau at no charge.
Chartering will also require the identification of a President, Secretary, Treasurer and Membership Chair. Members stepping up to take these positions will have full support and access to STL board corollaries.
Wild Ones STL will join with representatives of Wild Ones SWIL to spread the word about the new chapter at our table at these Illinois events:
· Grow Native’s Southwest IL Annual Workshop at Lewis and Clark Community College, Edwardsville – February 23
· Gateway Green Conference in Collinsville, IL – March 6
The next Wild Ones SWIL meeting will be at 10:00 am on March 9, at Willoughby Heritage Farm. In addition to the planning meeting, there will be a presentation by Sue Leahy, STL Chapter’s Marketing Chair. She will present A Journey of Transformation; 12 years of native plant gardening. Contact Carol Frerker for more information and to RSVP. farmsuperintendent@collinsvilleil.org, 618-977-2430
