W e s t e r n I l l i n o i s
U n i v e r s i t y
R e c r e a t i o n , P a r k a n d
T o u r i s m A d m i n i s t r a t i o n
T h e p e r i o d i c n e w s l e t t e r o f H o r n F i e l d C a m p u s a t
W e s t e r n I l l i n o i s U n i v e r s i t y
D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 9
The mission of Horn
Field Campus is to offer an outdoor educational environment that is committed to extending
Western Illinois
University’s mission of instruction, research and public service.
Dear Friends,
As we near the end of another semester, I’m sure you can imagine that it is a bittersweet time for me as
I say “so long” to so many wonderful and talented students who have chosen to spend their time and energies at Horn Field Campus. Each brings his or her own perspective to the program, which gives it a richness and uniqueness unlike any in which I have ever been involved.
I say “so long” to Rose and Dale who have served faithfully and will continue to make us proud as they pursue their future adventures, Rose with her thesis and Dale at his internship. There are also many undergraduates to thank for making this semester a great one Derek,
Sean, John, Jordan, Sarah, Jason,
Ryan—it just wouldn’t have been the same without you. And now they pass the torch to our new students
Katy, Pat, Kate, Sarah, Keri, Nikki,
Nathan and Mike, who will be facilitating in the spring and adding their unique talents to Horn.
The Horn Environmental Learning
Project (HELP) will be lead by new faces in the spring. Monica Gummow will serve as president, Alex Hood as vice president and Pat Croke as treasurer. Expect good things from them in the New Year!
The Horn Field Campus Advisory
Board held its first meeting in
November. Those attending were
Caryn Elm ’07; Jim Miner ’72, ’73
(MS); Karen Peitzmeier ’88; Mitch
Standard ’88; current RPTA grad student Dale Maxson; RPTA faculty members Mike McGowan and Rob
Porter; and ex officio members Dale
Adkins, Chair of RPTA and Jennie
Hemingway, Director of
Development for the College. In
January, 2010, the group will gather for a visioning session, which will be facilitated by former Horn program coordinator and alumnus Lon
Alderman. If you would like to participate or provide input, please feel free to contact me directly. We can all move the development of
Horn forward, one step at a time.
2010 programs that have been scheduled include the Wilderness
First Responder certification courses
March 13-24, our Wellness Weekend
April 9-11 and Dad’s Weekend activities April 17, as well as open climbs and guided nature hikes in
April and May. Please check our website (wiu.edu/rpta/HFC) for more information. Also mark your calendars for the annual WIU
Environmental Summit, which will be held April 7 th and the RPTA annual Professional Development
Conference to be held April 23 rd .
From a snowy day at the lodge, I’m sending my greetings of the season to you and yours. As Doc Lupton would remind us all “the sun is shining, the birds are singing, it’s a great day to be alive!”
To get the latest information on upcoming programs at HFC, refer to our website: wiu.edu/rpta/HFC
HFC welcomes back ECOEE
2009 for their final debriefing and celebrations!!
Fall 2009 Facilitators
Back: John, Kate, and Jordan
Front: Pat, Katy, Rose, Sarah, and Keri
Wilderness First Responder Trainings for Spring 2010.
WFR Certification is March 13-21 at $700
(before Jan. 29 is $650)
WFR Re-certification is March 22-24 at $310
(before Jan. 29 is $275)
Visit our website for registration information.
Despite a very wet and muddy fall, the corn maze brought in over 1,100 visitors in October.
Programming students, Katy Doolan and Pat Croke offered the first free
“family day” at the climbing tower with more than 60 families donating over $80 to support the purchase of additional youth harnesses and helmets.
More than 75 student volunteers assisted with the various projects at
HFC this fall.
HFC facilitators continue to train in the area of accessible climbing equipment and techniques and have offered several workshops for our
TR students.

P a g e 2
Winter at Horn
Field Campus!
What can Horn do for you?
Do you have a wedding, meeting, retreat or family gathering coming up?
Whatever your event, the staff at Horn Field Campus can work with you to ensure your guests have a great time enjoying the natural beauty and quaint facilities of West
Central Illinois. Our Teams
Course is great for any group looking to develop leadership, teamwork, and communication skills. Our High Ropes Course and Climbing Tower provide a physical challenge that is sure to get your blood pumping. Contact the Horn
Field Campus Scheduling office at (309) 298-2026 or hf-campus@wiu.edu to schedule your next event with us!
This semester has been yet another of many great falls at Horn Field Campus. Such is the case for the Timber Stand
Improvement (TSI) test plot, adjacent to the parking lot, and restored prairie. During the 2006-2007 school year Alex
Fuller and I (with many others equally contributing) began complete removal of invasive bush honeysuckle from the
TSI test plot. The initial result was impressive, but it will take some time before native species can reestablish themselves. This fall we had a wonderfully thick spread of orange jewelweed develop in many places where the honeysuckle was removed. At first frost the succulent-stemmed jewelweed died down to leave the forest floor clear for enjoyment. No brambles or thickets, just a clear walk in the woods. I can only imagine how the woodlands will improve as we continue our work!
Making the transition of undergraduate student worker to graduate assistant at Horn, I have had the pleasure of continuing these projects and taking on a few new ones as well. With the assistance of some Volunteer Improve and
Preserve (VIP) Day participants and Horn Environmental Learning Project (HELP) members, we have established a
“primitive” campsite on the Sunset Trail. You may ask “where is Sunset Trail?” It begins behind the lodge, crosses
Lazy Creek, making right turns at every trail intersection it meets, forming a wide loop along the southwestern corner of the property. The “primitive” campsite was cleared of debris and seeded with grass to stabilize the soil.
During the fall semester Mindy let me have some fun with the trees out here, which lead to the development of a
Trees of Horn Field Campus brochure. While there are too many species to adequately describe on a two-sided brochure, I feel that we were able to create a solid base for visitors to start from when trying to identify the trees at
HFC. Speaking of trees, we have added four new trees to the HFC family. Along the edge of the playfield we planted an October Glory Red Maple and a good-looking Sugar Maple. In a few years these will be sure to provide some comfortable shade, brilliant fall color, and possibly some sweet syrup! We also planted two Bald Cypress trees next to the parking lot to replace some of the aging Black Locust trees. While the Bald Cypress’ natural range ends in southern Illinois, they will be right at home at HFC. The tree has a very long lifespan (specimens have been known to live for over a thousand years!) and enjoys soggy soil situations. It will be fun to watch these trees grow with HFC.
It’s been an exciting semester at HFC. The environmental education curriculum, Earth
Musings, has served area school children well by helping to prevent NDD (Nature Deficit
Disorder). A lively group of four-year-olds from Wesley
Child Care has assisted us with a pilot of the pre-school edition. The group was very proficient when it came to using their eyes, ears, and noses to learn more about the woods.
The recently added organic garden, fondly referred to as
SOGGY (sustainable organic gardening yield), is surviving the cold and rain. Volunteers from HELP and the Campus
Greens have diligently maintained the garden and built a compost bin from recycled wooden pallets. Additionally,
SOGGY is on the verge of being adopted into a larger network of community gardens designed to feed and educate underserved populations throughout McDonough
County.
We’re thrilled to report that
HFC has received a grant from the Lake Education Assistance
Program (LEAP), a division of
Illinois EPA, to help educate local students about the health of Spring and Argyle Lakes and McDonough County water resources. We will be partnering with Pat Sullivan
’96(MS), environmental educator and owner of Peace
Of Earth Lodge in Rushville, to take watershed education into area classrooms. We can’t wait to see what winter and spring will hold!
Our Fall Graduate
Assistants: Emily, Rose, and Dale
Fall is the season for the Challenge Course. This semester has kept us on our toes in several ways, with inclement weather always threatening to cancel our open high ropes and open climbing tower events, and training for the new and returning staff. All of you certainly know how beautiful Horn Field Campus is in the fall, especially in the woods where the Challenge Course is located! Unfortunately, with the beauty of falling leaves always comes the chance of rain and this season was no different.
New this year, we added open high ropes course days to the open climbing tower events. These Saturdays allowed the local community and WIU to experience Horn’s adventure recreation component. We were also fortunate to have a large number of returning staff for the fall. Every Wednesday from 4-7 you could find us somewhere at HFC training, whether to hone already existing skills or learn new ones. Our staff trainings have been a lot of fun! Overall it was a great season and we are looking forward to the next as well.
H o r n H a p p e n i n g s