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THE FALL CAMP-OUT — 1964 
By Anne Douglas Bayless 
The largest crowd ever to attend an Illinois Audubon Society meeting, 
200 persons, gathered for the Annual Fall Camp-Out in Kickapoo State 
Park near Danville, Sept. 19 and 20. They were rewarded by delightful 
weather, one of the finest programs, and a chance to explore one of the 
state’s least-known (for no apparent reason!) state parks. The setting was 
of special interest, for the park had been saved not long before from the 
inroads of strip-mining. A bill which would have permitted this had already 
passed the Illinois Legislature, when the Vermilion County Audubon Society 
(hosts for the Camp-Out) got wind of the measure and rallied conserva- 
tionists all over the state, including the Illinois Audubon Society. Governor 
Kerner was induced to veto the bill in the nick of time. 
Thus Society members were able to feel they had played a part in 
saving Kickapoo State Park for the enjoyment of generations to come. 
Strip mining is still going on right up to the park’s borders, and many 
hikers on Saturday afternoon went to watch operations. Much of the park 
is old strip mine land, grown over with trees and vegetation. Mining 
operations have dotted the area with ponds and thrown up hills on what 
would otherwise be relatively level land. The park covers 1,500 acres. 
Members of the Vermilion County Society outdid themselves in acting 
as hosts. They began registering arrivals at the park Saturday noon, and 
led field trips around the park as sufficient numbers gathered. Even late 
arrivals were able to explore the park despite a brief, heavy shower. 
The vark has no suitable indoor meeting place, and so the meeting of 
the I. A. S. Board Saturday afternoon and the banquet Saturday evening 
were held in the gymnasium of the nearby Newtown school. Women of 
the Hebron Methodist Church, down the road from the school, prepared a 
delicious meal, which was served cafeteria style. Table decorations were 
done by members of the Vermilion Society. 
I. A. S. President Raymond Mostek turned the meeting over to Ted 
Greer, Camp-Out Chairman, who introduced Dr. S. Glidden Baldwin, 
Danville ophthamologist, naturalist, lecturer, organizer and former president 
of the Vermilion County Audubon Society. Dr. Baldwin recently won 
the I. A. S. and American Motors Conservation Awards. By supper time 
Dr. Baldwin and his wife, Mary, needed little introduction, as they had 
been in the thick of camp-out activities all day. 
Dr. Baldwin’s program was “Kiwis and Kangaroos,” a color film of 
a trip the Baldwins and their two sons took to New Zealand and Australia. 
I. A. S. members who have attended the Audubon Wildlife Films series 
have seen many vrograms on Australia and New Zealand, but nothing 
to touch the Baldwins’, which was fascinating from start to finish, with 
top-notch photography. They covered the wildlife of both New Zealand 
and Australia, showing little-known marsupials and birds as well as 
koalas, kankagoos, the flightless kiwis, dingoes, and others. An exploration 
of the Great Barrier Reef off Australia was an especially notable sequence. 
Recordings made on the spot provided a sound track for much of the film. 
A short film on the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania also was 
shown, and the evening ended with slides shown by members. 
After repairing to hotels, motels, homes, or campsites in the park (27 
families camped), members arose early to breakfast together on the farm 
of Mrs. Della Green. She and her family had cleared out the farm workshon 
