WINTER 2011
HORNHAPPENINGS
A NOTE FROM MINDY
THE PERIODIC NEWSLETTER OF HORN FIELD CAMPUS
I can hardly believe I have been at Horn Field Campus for five years.
The journey has been an experience "chock-full" of working with
exceptional students. At this time, I would like to take a moment to
reminisce on some of our graduate assistants contributions, as each one
has left a special imprint on our beloved HFC.
"Going to the woods
is going home"
-John Muir
The mission of Horn
Field Campus is to offer
an outdoor educational
environment that is
committed to extending
Western Illinois
University's mission of
academic excellence,
educational opportunity,
personal growth,
and social responsibility.
Search for us on your
favorite social media sites!
Facebook
YouTube
To get the latest
information on
upcoming programs at
HFC, refer to our website:
wiu.edu/hfc
or call (309) 833-5798
Five years ago, William Anderson and Jarrah Buch "trained" me when
I arrived. They are two of the most capable young professionals I have
ever met and I think of them often. Alex Fuller gave his heart to Horn
and took special care of it when he was here. He is most famous for his
amazing corn maze design and implementation. No one made it as easy
as Alex did. Jason Whiting, now in Georgia working toward his Ph.D.,
shared his expert outdoor skills with students and was often mentioned
as being a "favorite" facilitator by many participants. Dale Maxson came
to know more about the woods at Horn than any other student. A quiet
walk on the trails with Dale was something not to be missed, as he was
the self-professed "minister of woodland affairs." Traci Heffelbower
came to us from serving in the Peace Corps in Bolivia. Traci's expertise
in environmental sustainability gave us all a jump start on thinking
about what is truly sustainable at Horn Field Campus. Traci is now
the transportation planner for the Southwest New Mexico Council
of Governments. They are fortunate to have her. Dallas Diehl, who
is back in Montana, will always be remembered for HFC signs being
placed in and around Macomb. Now because of his efforts, people can
actually find Horn Field Campus! Esther Dohrman shared a semester
with us keeping the Earth Musings program alive. Garret Lenz and
Josh Sharpe probably had the most laborious job of them all—cleaning
up after an ice storm in December 2008. They continually worked,
for months, clearing trails of all the downed trees and limbs. Thank
goodness they were both here at that time. Rose Gochenauer, who was
just back defending her thesis, is serving as the Outdoor Adventure
Recreation Coordinator for Georgia Gwinnett College. She represents
her alma mater well. Just last year, TJ Turner and Emily Schoenfelder
were valiant stewards of the site, offering environmental education
programs, guided nature hikes, a new community garden project, and
a pumpkin patch which nicely compliments the corn maze. Give TJ a
shovel and he'd give you a new parking lot! TJ came to us from James
Madison University and Emily endured her first midwest winter after
growing up in Florida and serving in the Peace Corps in South Africa.
Horn Field Campus continues to shine and prosper with so much talent
shared by these outstanding students who bring their uniqueness to
Horn Field Campus and leave it with the same shared respect and love
for it as you.
CHALLENGE COURSE UPDATE
Top Row, L to R: Tammy Lundy, Nicole
Rodak, Kristina Preston, Jessica McKinney
Bottom Row, L to R: Brandon Mitchell,
Deena Doherty
The Horn Field Campus spotlight
is shining brightly on a dedicated
group of volunteers from W.A.V.E.,
Western's All Volunteer Effort.
Tammy Lundy, LEJA major and
WAVE officer, chooses Horn Field
Campus for her weekly hours. Other
WAVE students then "sign-up"
each week for a volunteer site and
several of our new WAVE friends
have been coming to Horn every
Monday afternoon from 2-4 p.m.
for three semesters now. Tammy
has also enlisted LAE (Lambda
Alpha Epsilon, the law enforcement
honorary fraternity) students to
offer their volunteer hours to Horn
Field as well. From helping with
event promotions, to decorating and
cleaning the facility, to removing
invasive species, this group has been
a phenomenal, dedicated and fun
group of student volunteers helping
us keep Horn the best it can be!
W.A.V.E
The fall semester has the most activity of any during the year when it
comes to challenge course experience. The weather, conducive to outdoor outings, groups, both on-campus and
off-campus, utilizing
the Horn experience to solidify their new teams. This year, we hosted
several returning groups
and a few new ones as
For the past two years at HFC, staff have been excellent in
well. The internet has
performing, teaching, teambuilding, taking charge and explaining
been such an asset for
safety. The number one attribute is the memory of the entire
us, as people search for outdoor
event, coming back to the Quincy site and utilizing the safety tips
adventure recreation and team
shared by the HFC staff. It's A life-changing event of growing up
building opportunities in the
and mentoring others. We implemented the suggestion of hiring a
region. It is often surprising, the
student mentor for our teens to help teach the kids how to
types of groups that venture to
teambuild and to make them accountable to each other.
Horn. Our facilitators are a bright
group of individuals and are the
Dennis Williams, Site Coordinator
largest, most qualified group in
the last five years. (See photo on
Teen REACH, Adams County Health Department
page 2).
Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration
1 University Circle
Macomb, IL 61455-1390
CORN MAZE 2010
The weather this fall was remarkably dry
which provided the first non-muddy Corn
Maze in years! And while folks still attend
the maze when it is muddy, it certainly is
a more pleasant experience when it is dry.
Thanks to the weather, our participation was
up, with more than 670 people attending
the Haunted Corn Maze between the hours
of 8-11 p.m. on October 30. That is a lot
of people! The daylight weekend hours
attracted many people as well with tallies
of more than 1,000 people attending. Once
again, the maze provides good clean corn
fun for all.
as we continue to attempt to keep up with
client feedback, good news arrived that a
new rural waterline from Dallas City is
being brought in next to the Horn property.
Associated costs of connecting the new line
to our buildings are being explored.
Part of programming actually involves
carving pumpkins for haunted maze
night! It's tough work, but there are always
students who step up.
FACILITIES UPDATE
As many of you know, the 92-acres of
HFC consist of mostly wooded areas
divided by Lazy Creek, interspersed with
approximately one mile of hiking trails, a
10-acre agriculture plot, and a few acres of
restored prairie, along with the challenge
course elements. The woods are full of
mature oak, elm, walnut, hickory, black
cherry, and hackberry trees but is overgrown
with honeysuckle which hinders new tree
growth. During the past four years, with the
help of a lot of student workers, volunteers,
and forestry professionals, the trails and
bridges have been maintained beautifully
and little by little, the honeysuckle is being
removed. We have also been fortunate
to receive funding through the Illinois
Forestry Foundation to help with timber stand
improvements over the last three years. It is
an extremely slow process but as we clean up
the woods, be assured we are planting new
trees as well. Many trees have been donated
by Friends of Horn, with the emphasis
currently on providing shade on the play field
for those hot summer teams courses. A pin
oak nursery has been established as well, with
about 30 saplings thriving thus far. Lastly,
Katie Kerperien, believe it or not, brings
outdoor education to another level: this is
the first pumpkin she has ever carved!
The corn maze offered healthy, outdoor
fun for many scout troops, youth groups,
student organizations, and families!
Heritage plus innovation equals a Horn Field
Campus that is nostalgic, welcoming and the
perfect place for people to re-connect with
other people, nature and themselves!
HFC ADVISORY BOARD
UPDATE
The Friends of Horn Advisory Board met
in August and was lead by Lon Alderman,
former HFC program coordinator and
RPTA alumnus, in taking the next step. in
forming strategic direction for HFC within
the categories of outdoor education, outreach
and marketing, community development,
university service, and technology and the
environment. Present in the session were
Dr. Adkins, Dr. McGowan, Dr. La Prad,
Monica Gummow, Caryn Elm, Karen
Peitzmeier, Dr. Porter, RPTA alumnus
Mitch Standard, Leann Shryack, and director
of development for the COEHS Jennie
Hemingway. The board will meet in January
to continue to define the role advisory board
members and Friends of Horn will play in the
strategies to meet the vision. As a recipient
of this newsletter, you have been identified
as a "Friend of Horn" thus your input and
feedback are always welcome. Please feel free
to contact Mindy Pheiffer (mj-pheiffer@wiu.
edu) or any of the board members listed above.
UPCOMING
EVENTS
March 12-20
WFR Certification
Course
March 21-21
WFR
Re-Certifiication
Course
April 2
1:00 - 4:00
Dad's Weekend
High Ropes Course
$10/per person
April 6
Environmental
Summit
University Union
Grand Ballroom
April 15
Professional
Development
Conference
Horrabin Hall Gym
April
(Exact Dates TBD)
Wellness Weekend
Top Row, L to R: Grant Fleetwood, Heather Raschke, Margaret Hammerand, Brett Devlin, Jules
Fijolek, Chelsey Moore, Robert Hostert, Jaclyn Folak. Bottom Row, L to R: Katie Kerperien,
Nicki Smith, Kyle Pickett, Joy Jones-McCauley, Jennifer Longshore. Not Pictured: Monica
Gummow, Madison Zimmerman, Sarah Mylcraine, Steven Gilbert, Pete Collins, Jordan
Brueck, Steve Bessette, Nick Capranica, Kevin Lytle, Laura Meizis, Sarah Still
*We are focusing our efforts on going paperless. To receive Horn Happenings via e-mail, please send your e-mail address to hf-campus@wiu.