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"The first lady has brought the issue
of restoring and preserving our natural heritage front and center,"
said Denise Regent, president of the 9,000-member
Garden Clubs of Illinois.
"We commend her for advocating on behalf of this issue that affects
the quality of life of everyone who lives in Illinois or drives
through the state." The first
lady launched her Wildflowers of Illinois project in 2003 as part of
her larger State Beautification Initiative, which is an outgrowth of
Gov. Rod Blagojevich's focus on environmental issues. The initiative
was designed to improve the quality of life in the state, to enhance
tourism, to restore Illinois' ecological identity and to make
Illinois a more beautiful place.
"The Wildflowers of Illinois project
was launched because we recognized the need to do more to preserve
and share the natural beauty of our state," said Mrs. Blagojevich.
"I'm happy to say that due to the efforts of many dedicated IDOT
employees, some of whom are here today, we have succeeded in
restoring almost 200 acres of prairie along our roadways. That's an
achievement we can all be proud of."
The first lady's Wildflowers of
Illinois program is carried out by the Department of Transportation
and consists of two separate initiatives: Wildflowers for Illinois
Gateways, which has resulted in restoring almost 200 acres of
prairie, primarily along roadways at state borders; and Wildflowers
for Illinois Communities, in which the Department of Transportation
has partnered on beautification projects with 33 municipalities
around the state. The program incorporates using innovative
approaches to enhance the delivery of basic government services.
"Thanks to the inspiration of the
first lady, IDOT is channeling existing resources towards restoring
the natural prairie in areas around the state," said Illinois
Department of Transportation Secretary Timothy W. Martin. "Our aims
are to foster economic development, promote responsible stewardship,
encourage environmental understanding and reduce roadside
maintenance costs. We also want to make Illinoisans proud of their
state's natural heritage. It is a great honor to have The Garden
Clubs of Illinois recognize the accomplishments of IDOT employees
across the state."
The awards ceremony was at the
Lisle-Naperville Hilton Hotel. The national Garden Club president,
June Wood, of Albuquerque, N.M., also attended the ceremony.
Fore more information about the
first lady's Wildflowers of Illinois project, visit
http://www.illinois.gov/firstlady/wildflowers.cfm.
Following are the Department of
Transportation employees and work units who were honored by Garden
Clubs of Illinois for outstanding work in various areas of roadside
beautification, including the Wildflowers of Illinois project:
District 1 -- Theodore Rummage,
resident engineer
Rummage was instrumental in
protecting existing oak trees and planting wildflowers as part of
the Torrence Avenue Bridge reconstruction project near Lynwood. Over
2,000 native woodland wildflowers were planted along the bike trail
that crosses Illinois Route 83 and passes through several forest
preserves. He ordered timely watering and weeding to help get the
wildflowers established.
District 1 -- Kim Harvey, design
engineer; Alix Brice, design engineer; Mike Denne, resident engineer
The three engineers were
involved with improving roadside plantings as part of two overpass
projects in the village of Homewood. At the entry to Homewood, Ridge
Road passes over an abandoned railroad corridor. Cherry trees, sumac
and plum were planted to beautify the area and stabilize the steep
slope. At Riegal Road, native understory trees were planted to
screen nearby homes and complement the wooded atmosphere of the
neighborhood.
District 1 -- Ronnie Baker, resident
engineer; Raymond Coston, engineer technician; Fabiola Quiroz,
landscape designer
Baker, Coston and Quiroz worked together to help beautify a portion
of the newly reconstructed Interstate 55 (Stevenson Expressway)
between California Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive. The overall
design celebrates the linkage between the expressway and the I&M
Canal. By carefully integrating the expressway into the
neighborhood, they were able to use 1,244 tons of native limestone
materials, 1,912 trees, 5,704 shrubs, 4,162 vines, 6,457 perennial
and ornamental grasses, and 1,660 daffodil bulbs.
[to top of second column in this article] |
 District 3 -- Rick Flessner, field
technician
Flessner was actively
involved in the beautification of roadsides by supervising the
preparation, organizing the planting and managing the District 3
gateway wildflower site. The project is one of 23 gateway sites
located throughout the state and is part of the first lady's
wildflower program. The seven-acre site is located along U.S. 24
near the Indiana state line. Several small patches of native flowers
and native grasses are situated around a small rest area and truck
scale house near Shelton.
District 3 -- Jim Snyder, resident
engineer
Snyder was the resident
engineer for the Department of Transportation on the reconstruction
of the Shippingsport Bridge over the Illinois River, which joins the
cities of LaSalle and Oglesby. This major improvement affected some
of the existing natural features in the immediate vicinity of the
structure. He not only arranged for the relocation of threatened and
endangered plants but also ensured that only directly affected trees
were removed, while the remaining trees were protected.
District 4, Team Section 411,
Monmouth
Team Section 411 Maintenance
Yard crews worked diligently on a number of projects responsible for
improving the natural and aesthetic environments in their area. This
team section is not only responsible for the planning of the gateway
wildflower site on U.S. 34 near Gulfport but also other projects,
such as the rebuilding of portions of the Dallas City rest area and
refurbishing the Covered Bridge rest area and the New Boston rest
area.
District 7 -- Stanley E. Grabski,
retired district engineer; Jerry Allen, retired operations engineer;
Tom Strohl, services and development unit chief; Tom Wilson,
landscape architect; Joe Howell, operations technician; Ken Kessler,
operations technician; Jim Hubbard, equipment technician; Mona
Steffen, CADD operator; Team Section 722, Lawrenceville Yard; Team
Section 742, Enfield Yard; Landscape Section 770
These individuals from
District 7 played important roles in the district's efforts to
prepare, plan and install the plants and seeds at the district's
gateway wildflower sites. Through their efforts the sites were
prepared for planting and seeding. The sites included a six-mile
stretch of U.S. 50 in Lawrence County and also extensive plantings
at the Skeeter Mountain rest area near the Indiana state line. Their
extraordinary efforts will assure the success of these sites.
District 8 -- Jennifer Hunt, senior
environmental specialist
Hunt is responsible for the
handling of the tree replacement work on one of the largest projects
in District 8, the Alton Bypass project, which resulted in a loss of
16,000 trees. She was given the task to find locations for the
replacement trees, and to date she has successfully seen that nearly
75 percent of the 16,000 trees have been replaced.
District 9 -- Glenn McLernon,
landscape architect; Larry Piche, section chief; Forrest Rogers,
equipment engineer; Mark Wece, maintenance field technician; Randy
Schaefer, maintenance field technician; Christy Patterson; Team
Section 921, Marion Yard; Team Section 923, Belgrade Yard; Team
Section 931, Cairo Yard
These individuals from
District 9 played important roles in the district's efforts to
prepare, plan and install the plants and seeds at the district's
gateway wildflower sites. Some of the individuals also assisted the
communities of Carbondale, West Frankfort, Harrisburg, Eldorado and
Mount Vernon with their community wildflower sites. Through these
individuals' extraordinary efforts these sites will succeed in the
coming years.
Day labor -- Tim Zahrn, section
chief, retired; Rick Brunette, road and bridge engineer; Troy Gundy,
support technician; Raymond Watkins, highway construction supervisor
II; Brian Ruder, highway construction supervisor II
These individuals
coordinated statewide with all nine of the highway districts in
preparing and planting of the 23 gateway wildflower locations, which
are part of the first lady's wildflower program. The sites are
scattered throughout the state, with most located near the state
lines. The planting of these locations, using both potted materials
and seed, added nearly 200 new acres of native plantings. Through
hard work and good planning the work was accomplished ahead of
schedule.
[News release from the governor's
office] |
