38 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 
At Trailside Museum 
By Mary Cooper 
The Trailside Museum, which was opened this past year by the 
Forest Preserve District, with the cooperation of The Chicago Academy 
of Sciences, has proven its value to the community. It had been planned 
to close the Museum for the winter, since the Forest Preserves are used 
much less by the public in the cold weather than in the summer months, 
and it did not seem probable that the attendance and interest would war- 
rant the expense of keeping it open. However, Charles G. Sauers, gen- 
eral superintendent, decided to try the experiment, and the attendance 
has exceeded expectations. “The Museum is ideally located in the old 
headquarters building on Thatcher Road at Chicago Avenue, on the west- 
ern border of River Forest. 
Letters describing the plan and activities of the Museum were sent 
to the schools of Chicago. As a result, a number of classes have made 
the Museum a headquarters for field trips in botany and zoology. 
‘The Museum has cooperated extensively with the Boy Scouts, through 
the Oak Park Council. Paul Ensign, assistant curator, was asked to 
conduct a morning’s excursion at Camp Fort Dearborn, in connection 
with a conference of Scout leaders. Many Scouts have come to the Mu- 
seum for merit badge examinations on natural history subjects and a 
number of Scout troops have used the building as headquarters for hikes. 
A Training Class for Scout leaders held an evening meeting in the build- 
ing, studying ways and means of “interesting boys in nature study.” 
“Interesting boys in nature study,” however, has never been one of 
our problems. When there is no school, boys come flocking to the 
Museum. So great has been the interest and so much real help to the 
Museum have these youngsters been, that it was decided to organize a 
picked group into a Junior Staff. This would give boys and girls who 
were really proving their usefulness greater opportunities for study and 
experience, and would make it possible to confine to them the special 
privileges which they certainly deserve. November 25 marked the formal 
recognition and rollicking initiation of the first nine members of the 
Junior Staff. They are: Jean Corbett (River Forest), Charles Groenke 
(Maywood), Donald Hirsch (Forest Park), Matthias Sasgen (River For- 
est), Wallace Schwass (Chicago), Henry Skoglund (Maywood), Bayard 
Tiegan (Oak Park), James von der Heydt (Oak Park), and Bertram 
Wright (River Forest). 
The young people have taken their position as staff members seri- 
ously. They feel the Museum is theirs, and any possible criticism of 
it is a reflection on their stewardship. As a result, they are always alert 
to find things that might be wrong and to suggest ways to right them. 
