The Groves

A Brief History of the Planting of the Groves 

On November 19, 2005 in Maxwell Park in Normal, Illinois, 95 teams of around 500 elders and children planted our first grove, Turtle Grove, consisting of 95 trees and 20 species. We began planting three new groves, Windrow, Eagle, and Winter Hill, in November 2006.

 Teams registered for and planted 14 trees in Windrow Grove on Nov. 4, 2006. 

Teams planted 45 out of 110 available in Eagle Grove on Nov. 11, 2006.   And teams planted 55 out of 123 available in Winter Hill Grove on Nov. 18, 2006.

Our total plantings for November 2006 were 114 trees, as compared with 95 trees in November 2005.

In the fall of 2007, we planted trees in Eagle (31 trees) and Winter Hill (36 trees)  Both groves were completed in the spring of 2008 by planting an additional 33 trees in Eagle Grove, and 32 trees in Winter Hill Grove.

In the fall of 2008, we planted 29 trees in Prairie Grove and 43 trees in Golden Grove. The fall of 2009 was our first grove at an elementary school, Glen School. 2010 is going to be an exciting year. Phase I of our newest grove, Bur Oak Grove, celebrated the planting of 23 trees this May. This fall we will continue to plant in Bur Oak and Golden Groves. In all of our groves, the co-sponsors donate planting, watering, and mulching costs, and replant trees that die. We supply the tags.

These are the groves planted so far:

Windrow Grove (14 trees) is at the Interstate Center, and cosponsored by the Interstate Center and Green View Design Group.

Eagle Grove (110 trees) is immediately north of Turtle Grove in Maxwell Park, and cosponsored by Normal Parks and Recreation.

Winter Hill Grove (123 trees) is in Ewing III Park, and cosponsored by Bloomington Parks and Recreation.

Prairie Grove (29 trees) is at the ISU Horticulture Center bordering Rabb Rd in Normal and is co-sponsored by Illinois State University.

Golden Grove- Phase I  (45 trees) and Phase II (43) is on the campus of Bloomington High School and is co-sponsored by District 87. This grove still has trees available.

Cardinal Grove (27 trees) is on the campus of Glen Elementary School in Normal and is co-sponsored by Unit 5.

Bur Oak Grove- Phase I (23 trees) is located at the Bloomington park- The Grove at Kickapoo Creek, located on Ireland Grove road. It is co-sponsored by Bloomington Parks & Recreation and Kaisner Homes. Phase II (31 trees) is planned for 2011.

Songbird Grove- (165 trees) is located at the M. J. Rhymer Family Nature Preserve of Dry Grove County and is located on 3210 W. Northtown Rd. The first planting of 44 trees was in the fall of 2010. Another planting is planned for fall of 2011.

Remember that the $75,000 already invested in about 500 trees will bring $375,000 in benefits: higher real estate values, lower air-conditioning costs, lower storm run-off costs, lower health costs because of cleaner air.