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Wolf Lake straddles the
Hammond, Indiana / Chicago, Illinois border

Announcements 

Canoeing, frog call Highlights Wetlands Festival

April 23, 2008

Tentative schedule for the 8^th annual Wolf Lake Bi-State Wetlands, Wind and Water festival held during Memorial Day weekend features, among other events, canoeing and kayaking, fishing clinics, kite flying, wind surfing instruction and cricket frog calling.

Sponsored by the Association for the Wolf Lake Initiative (AWLI), the event, free to the public, will be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 24-25.

Collaborating this year with AWLI are the Hammond Port Authority, Chicago’s 10^th Ward Aldermanic Office, Hammond’s Department of Parks and Recreation, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Lake County Solid Waste Management District, Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau, American Legion Illiana Post 220, Polish Legion of American Veterans, Chicago Public Library’s Hegewisch and Vodak/East Side branches, East Side United Methodist church, and Boy Scouts of America.

Funders of the event include Centier Bank, Green Fields Trading Company, Hasse Construction Company, Inc. and the Legacy Foundation.

Activities are scheduled as follow.

Saturday Morning, May 24

Wm Powers Conservation Area, Chicago near boat launch

9 a.m: Fishing Clinic by Jerry Carter of Southeast Chicago Sportsmen’s Club

10 a.m. Kite Flying by American Legion Illiana Post 220 and the 10^th Ward Aldermanic Office, (under 16 years)

10 a.m. Hasse Construction Wacky Face Painting by Rebecca Moss, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, et al.

Saturday Afternoon, May 24,

Environmental Education Ctr, 2405 Calumet Avenue, Hammond

Noon: Picnic lunch by Dinah Ramirez, Healthy Southeast Chicago

Hammond’s Wolf Lake Park intersection of Sheffield-Calumet Avenues

1 p.m. Canoe/Kayak Paddle Fishing Clinic, Kite Flying by Hammond Port Authority and Boy Scouts of American

2 p.m. Wind Surfing & Sailing Demo by Jackie Butzen, Windward Sports

3 p.m. Centier Bank Happy Trails Nature Hike by Art Peschke, Wolf Lake Conservation Project

4 p.m. Around the Lake Bike Tour by John Pastirik, Calumet Ecological Par Association

 Saturday Evening

Nike Missile Launch Site parking lot

5 p.m. Sunset Campfire Song & Story by John Pastirik, CEPA

Sunday Morning, May 25

Wm Powers Conservation Area, Chicago, Shelter # 2

6 a.m. Sunrise Worship Service by Rev. Zaki L. Zaki with Ecumenical Choir directed by Mary Kuzniar and Color Guard by Polish Legion of American Veterans.

7 a.m. Breakfast by Jackie Herod, AWLI

8 a.m. Birds du Jour/Plant ID/Nature Walk by Terry Schilling, Bird Conservation Network

9 a.m. Educational Displays, Student Demos

10 a.m. Jennifer Tobin, UIC Extension Service on Native Plantings

10:30 a.m Photographing Wolf Lake by Rod Sellers, Southeast Chicago Historical Society, (bring a camera)

Sunday Afternoon, May 25

Environmental Education Ctr, 2405 Calumet Avenue, Hammond

Noon: Lunch by Dinah Ramirez, Healthy Southeast Chicago

1:30 p.m. Tour of Environmental Education Center

2 p.m. Art at the Lake Poster winners announced by Bob Victor, AWLI

2:15 p.m. Dian Fruth of Purdue University Calumet Extension Service on Native Flowers

2:45 p.m. Tour of restoration along Forsythe Park by Michael Boos, AWLI

3:30 p.m. Cricket frog call by Alan Resetar, Field Museum of Natural History

4 p.m. Introduction to Active Living Faire by Dinah Ramirez, Healthy Southeast Chicago.

# # #

Ecumenical voices sought For AWLI festival

April 2, 2008

The Association for the Wolf Lake Initiative (AWLI) is inviting members of area churches to join its ecumenical choir for the 8^th annual Wolf Lake Bi-State Wetlands, Wind & Water festival on Sunday, May 25.

The Sunrise Worship Service will be held near the obelisk at William Powers Conservation Area, Chicago, IL. Dr. Rev. Zaki L. Zaki will officiate with a color guard provided by the Polish Legion of American Veterans.

Mary Kuzniar, choir director at Hammond’s Morton High School, will conduct the singing and guitarist/singer Ken Czulno will accompany. A rehearsal will be scheduled approximately a week before the event.

The two-day festival, which is free to the public, showcases the natural resources of the Wolf Lake area in Chicago and Hammond, Indiana, and promotes bi-state cooperation. It provides a fun alternative to those seeking to avoid the high cost of travel to more distant recreational areas.

The whole family will enjoy the entertainment and such recreational events as Birds du Jour, Around the Lake Bike Tour and canoeing/kayaking. There also will be several educational presentations.

Besides the kite fly, Saturday’s activities include wind surfing and sailing instructions and fishing clinics. Sunday begins with the ecumenical Sunrise Service, with presentations and activities continuing throughout the day.

A cricket frog call and singing and story-telling by campfire conclude the day.

The Festival is also a fund raiser, supporting AWLI’s continued efforts to promote, preserve, and enhance the natural area surrounding Wolf Lake. More than $9 million was spent on Wolf Lake during past years by federal and local agencies.

With that investment, AWLI’s commitment looms even greater.

Those who wish to join the choir should contact AWLI at 219-933-7149 or 312-220-0120.

AWLI will conduct the festival in collaboration with the Hammond Port Authority, Chicago’s 10^th Ward Office, Hammond’s Department of Parks and Recreation, Lake County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Lake County Solid Waste Management District, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, American Legion Illiana Post 220, the Polish Legion of American Veterans, Hegewisch and Vodak/East Side branches of the Chicago Public Library and the East Side United Methodist Church, and Boy Scouts of America Troops 533 and 542.

AWLI is a bi-state, non-for-profit organization and land trust with a mission to enhance and improve the Wolf Lake watershed.

# # #

Poster contest set For Wolf Lake festival

April 1, 2008

The deadline for entering the poster contest held in conjunction with the 8^th Annual Wolf Lake Bi-State Wetlands, Wind & Water festival is Friday, May 2. The festival will be held May 24-25 during Memorial Day weekend.

Winners will be announced at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 25, at the Environmental Education Center, 2405 Calumet Avenue, Hammond.

Participants are asked to depict the plants and wildlife found at Wolf Lake. Older students are encourage to include the concept of stewardship that is required to preserve and enhance Wolf Lake plants and wildlife.

The deadline for submitting posters is Friday, May 16. Entries will be judged by a panel in three categories: grades K to 4; grades 5 to 8; and high school.

More than 190 entries were judged at AWLI’s Winter Wonderland at Wolf Lake poster contest in January. Winning posters are on display at the Wolf Lake Park kiosk and at the Environmental Education Center, 2405 Calumet Avenue, Hammond.

First place winner in each category will receive $25. Second place winners will each receive $15, and the third prize winners will each receive $10.

AWLI is a not-for-profit organization and land trust whose mission is to improve and enhance the Wolf Lake watershed.

Besides the wetlands festival, AWLI promotes Wolf Lake by sponsoring the 5^nd Annual Active Living Faire on October 4, 2008 and the 8^th Annual Winter Wonderland at Wolf Lake on January 17, 2009. The organization is headquartered at the Environmental Education Center in Hammond.

AWLI conducts the festival in collaboration with the Hammond Port Authority, Chicago’s 10^th Ward Office, the Hammond Department of Parks and Recreation, Lake County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Lake County Solid Waste Management District, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, American Legion Illiana Post 220, the Polish Legion of American Veterans, the Hegewisch and Vodak/East Side branches of the Chicago Public Library, East Side United Methodist Church, and Boy Scouts of America Troops 533 and 542.

AWLI is seeking sponsors to support the festival. Last year, the event was co-sponsored by Baetis Environmental Services, Inc.; American Trust & Savings Bank; Centier Bank; Citizens Financial Bank; Gallo Equipment Company and Green Fields Trading Company.

Festival planners next meet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 17, at the Environmental Education Center, 2405 Calumet Avenue, Hammond. The public is invited to participate.

# # #

AWLI Elects Robert Victor As New President

February 15, 2008

Bob Victor, research manager for the Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau and Highland resident, was elected February 7 to head the Association for the Wolf Lake Initiative (AWLI).

Victor, who has served longer than any other AWLI director, succeeds Linda Cook of Griffith, IN. He will serve as interim president.

Dinah Ramirez, a newly elected AWLI director and executive director of Healthy Southeast Chicago, was elected vice-president. Ken Czulno, of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office and Chicago resident, was re-elected treasurer.

A registered nurse for more than 30 years, Ramirez is a graduate of South Chicago Hospital School of Nursing. She was the Operations Director at Chicago Family Health Center for more than 12 years.

Ramirez has worked in Indiana as a school nurse and state nurse for farm workers. She is the past president of the Illinois Hispanic Nurses Association and has participated as a member of more than 25 community organizations, boards, and committees.

Czulno is finance director of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office and former accounting supervisor at U.S. Steel Corp.

Another new director is attorney Dave Dabertin of Hammond. He is a past regional director of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and remains active in the preservation and restoration of George and Wolf lakes.

As a member of the Illina Yacht Club, Dabertin has made presentations at past winter festivals sponsored by AWLI.

AWLI’s board comprises 19 members. AWLI is a bi-state not-for-profit organization and land trust whose mission is to improve and enhance Wolf Lake and the surrounding natural areas.

Besides its effort to achieve bi-state cooperation, it promotes Wolf Lake by sponsoring such events as the annual Wolf Lake Bi-State Wetlands, Wind & Water festival, the Annual Active Living Faire, the annual Winter Wonderland at Wolf Lake festival, which was held last month, and the Autumn Reception & Art Show.

AWLI is headquartered at the Environmental Education Center, 2405 Calumet Avenue, in Hammond, IN.

# # #

August 31, 2007

AWLI Seeks Public Backing of Plan

Resolutions supporting the Association for the Wolf Lake Initiative’s (AWLI) effort to develop a bi-state management plan for the Wolf Lake watershed are being sent to community groups in the Wolf Lake area.

The Hammond Parks Foundation approved the resolution in early August. The resolution is being sent to more than 60 organizations and other government entities.

In July AWLI was awarded a $67,500 grant from the Lake and River Enhancement (L.A.R.E.) program of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Indiana DRN withdrew the grant in August because of objections from the city of Hammond.

"By January, 2008, when AWLI resubmits its grant application to L.A.R.E.," explains Linda Cook, president of the organization, "we will be able to demonstrate the breadth of public backing for the bi-state plan. We just didn’t have time to do so this year."

AWLI began the bi-state management process by sponsoring the development of the vision document for Wolf Lake in 2000-2001. This was accomplished in collaboration with the cities of Hammond and Chicago, who paid for the printing of the document, and 50 other jurisdictions, government and civic groups and organizations, education, business and industry.

The bi-state management plan is the sequel to the vision document. Over the years, the plan could qualify Hammond and other Wolf Lake communities for millions of dollars in funding to improve and enhance the Wolf Lake.

"As homeowners in Northwest Indiana, my neighbors and I are very sensitive about plans to increase taxes." adds Cook, a resident of Griffith. "The bi-state plan avoids the tax or fees problem by qualifying for federal and state grants."

During the past seven years, AWLI advanced projects to clean up the Calumet Container site and restore the Wolf Lake shoreline. It sponsors three festivals a year at Wolf Lake and participates in other events like Indiana DNR’s Coastal Week activities on Saturday, September 8, at the Environmental Education Center, 2405 Calumet Avenue, Hammond.

AWLI conducted a public meeting on the development of a bi-state management plan for the Wolf Lake watershed in January 2006, and AWLI submitted a grant request to the city of Hammond in February 2007 seeking matching funds for the bi-state plan. It is also seeking matching funds from others sources, such as the Illinois DNR 2000 program and Chicago Wilderness.

The cities of Hammond and Chicago, counties of Lake and Cook, and Indiana and Illinois DNR have assigned representatives to AWLI’s board. Wolf Lake serves a population of 3 million, according to the 1996 diagnostic study of Wolf and George Lakes.

AWLI’s 20-member board is balanced residency-wise between Indiana and Illinois. It is headquartered at the Environmental Education Center, Hammond.

# # #

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AWLI is headquartered at the Environmental Education Center, 2405 Calumet Avenue, in Hammond, IN.

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Wolf Lake Lake
County 2005 Fish Management Report
Bob Robertson

 8th Annual Wolf Lake
Bi-State
Wetlands, Wind & Water
Festival

Sat. -Sun.
May 24 and 25, 2008
Paddle canoes, compete in fishing derby, fly kites, view wind surfing demo, learn about critters who hang out at Wolf Lake, learn about Wolf Lake history and much more.

Some 130 scientists gathered at the Wolf Lake watershed on August 23-24, 2002 and discovered more than 2250 species in a 24-hour period.  Click here to see the results of the BioBlitz of 2002:
www.fmnh.org/bioblitz/bioblitz_results.asp