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Do you know this creature?
The Schaumburg Park Foundation made a unique
By Al Larson and Jerry Handlon The Schaumburg Park District and the Schaumburg Park Foundation have been involved with a fund-raising project to furnish the 8,000-square-foot Vera Meineke Nature Center that is being built at the Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary. The Foundation's board of trustees, chaired by George C. Podd, is directing a major campaign to get more residents involved in the fund raising for the project. It hopes to raise $90,000 and, to date, has achieved one-third of its goal. Podd, who is chairman of the board at the First Bank of Schaumburg, also wants to involve the community in the various events being planned for the center's grand opening Oct. 3-5 and in the enhancement of the sanctuary's programs. Creature contest One of the ideas formulated by the Foundation's Fund Raising Committee was the Name the Creature Contest. Illinois Parks and Recreation 14 September/October 1986 Posters, flyers and a model of the creature itself were displayed at key locations throughout the community. The creature was designed by park district staff; the posters were a combined effort of village and park district employees. Printing of the flyers and posters was financed by the Foundation. The community has donated a variety of secondary prizes for which more than 500 entrants will be competing. Al Larson, a village trustee in Schaumburg, wrote the following presentation for the Foundation. Foundation members have used it on various occasions to assist their fund-raising efforts:
Workers uncovered the remains of a strange creature during the earth moving work being done for the nature observation building last year. The Foundation board had it subsequently shipped to the Museum of Natural History for identification.
The creature's skull was almost completely empty and came to a point at the top. From these features it was deduced that the creature, having plenty of open space on its own, didn't feel that it wanted or needed more.
The pointed skull helped the creature to bury its head in the sand. It also prevented it from being too levelheaded.
The creature also lacked ample vision, and the little it had made it extremely shortsighted. Moreover, only one of its ears worked. When something reasonable, worthwhile or sensible was proposed, it turned a deaf ear to the suggestion.
Other features
The creature's skin was like flint, and wedged between its grasping fingers was a tightly held penny. A thorough examination of the body indicated that its cardiovascular system was oriented within the context of a pulmonary transitional mode of operation. In other words, its heart wasn't in the right place.
Based upon the body of evidence presented, it was determined that the creature was backward. Its body was hunched over so it could watch its feet, lest it moved too far forward. Indeed, for every step forward it took two steps back, but only where it had been. Where it had been was always more important than where it would be, and the present was always measured against the past because it had no concept of the future.
Not concerned about tomorrow, oblivious to anything but itself, the creature turned increasingly inward until it had nowhere else to go. And that's how we found it — inside out.
Useful lessons
Our long-lost creature has brought with it some useful lessons. Don't bury your head in the sand, but be levelheaded and develop some vision of the future. Moreover, try not to be shortsighted, turning a deaf ear to a reasonable, worthwhile and sensible cause.
Don't be a skinflint or a penny pincher. Show everyone that your heart is in the right place, and don't be afraid to step forward.
Let's not bury our dreams without dreaming them. Let's involve ourselves in something beyond ourselves. Let's become part of tomorrow by shaping part of tomorrow.
Final thoughts When describing the creature at the Foundation's public meeting in March, Larson also reminded those in attendance that "seldom has something so worthwhile as the Spring Valley Nature Center come our way. It's something that future generations will cherish, a gift for our children and grandchildren and their children.
"Won't you join us in completing Ellsworth Meineke's Spring Valley Dream?"
Illinois Parks and Recreation 15 September/October 1986 |
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