Maple Grove is a small residential area adjacent to Lake Springfield and is an area The Friends of the Sangamon Valley have been working for two years. Marie Havens is a long time resident of Maple Grove. She is also a member of the Native Plant Society. Friends staff, Krystle Adams, recently conducted this interview with Marie after one of our recent workdays.
Krystle: When did you first become interested in the Maple Grove workday?
Marie: I saw a friend of mine posted a link on Facebook and I thought to myself yeah I could do that. The combo of honeysuckle and Maple Grove was just too
irresistible to avoid…Once I knew about the work days I felt
duty bound.
Krystle: What are some of positive benefits of volunteering your time with FOSV?
Marie: Being useful and productive exercise. I hope that we can
help native plants grow throughout Maple Grove which will ultimately help out the wildlife; the area really seems to need more diversity of plants.
Krystle: Marie then let me know what it was like living in this area 20 years ago.
Marie: 20 years ago the only trails through the Maple Grove area were horse trails, once the honey suckle moved in you couldn’t walk through the woods at all. No one was clearing honeysuckle back then unless it started to grow in their back yards. So I can really see now how important the work is. I really wish someone was here, clearing it out 20 years ago when the problem started. I hate honeysuckle.
Krystle: We ended the interview talking about how thankful many of the Maple Grove residents are that FOSV are clearing out invasive species and making it easier for them to watch all the wildlife.
Marie is 75 years old and says, “You’re never too old to get out and help nature.”
Friends of the Sangamon Valley 