May 4th 50th Celebration

Below are the remarks shared by Lake County Audubon Society President Carolyn Lueck during our 50th Anniversary Celebration and Annual Meeting on May 4, 2026 at the Byron Colby Barn. Remarks by board member and past president, Chris Geiselhart, follow.

Enjoy this slideshow of photos captured throughout the evening by Stephen Hurst.

Good evening everyone,

Welcome, and thank you all for being here tonight. It’s wonderful to gather together for our May program, our annual meeting and elections, and a celebration of 50 years of the Lake County Audubon Society. I hope you enjoyed the food and had a chance to watch our 2025 Year in Review. We’re very proud of the impact this community continues to have advocating for birds and the habitats they depend on.

I’d also like to extend a special thank you to Geoff Deigan for allowing us to spend this evening in the stunning Byron Colby Barn. We truly appreciate your generosity.

Before we move on, I want to share a thrilling announcement for all our Waukegan piping plover fans.

On April 26, we discovered that our beloved male plover, Pepper, had returned to the restricted beach. Our volunteers have been out on the beach, anxiously awaiting the return of his mate. It appears the south winds yesterday afternoon blew in a wonderful surprise because just this morning, he was joined by Blaze.

Nat Carmichael discovered her and shared wonderful photos as we all cheered this incredible news.

Another Waukegan favorite, Pippin, has also returned. He arrived at Montrose Beach several weeks ago, much to the amazement of the plover community. Pippin ended the 2025 season with his foot encased in what we believe was a hair extension, and he departed Lake County before we could trap and help him. Many of us feared he would not survive. Instead, he has shown incredible perseverance, successfully making the journey to and from his wintering grounds.

We are all rooting for Pippin to finally find a mate this season, and we’ll be sharing updates as plovers continue arriving across the Great Lakes.

We had some other exciting visitors this weekend. Sage, one of Blaze and Pepper’s 2024 chicks, returned to the area and briefly shared time with dad, Pepper on the restricted beach. Last year, she successfully fledged three chicks at North Manitou Island near Sleeping Bear Dunes, and she is now back for her second migration season. We wish her continued success as she continues her journey

Yesterday, a first-year bird from Cat Island in Green Bay also stopped by, sharing the shore with Pippin. We had hoped she might stay, but it appears she has already moved on.

After such long journeys, seeing these birds return to the same stretch of shoreline is truly remarkable. What happens next? We’ll be watching closely. But one thing is certain: this is a powerful reminder of how critical the Waukegan habitat is for both breeding and migratory birds.

Now, I’d like to take a moment to recognize and thank two individuals who have given so much to Lake County Audubon Society over the years.

Patty Werner and Donna Kenski, we are incredibly grateful for your many years of service, dedication, and care for this organization.

Patty, it’s hard to sum up your contributions to our organization… your work on governance and birdscaping, your contributions to communications, and your incredible organizational skills have strengthened this chapter in so many ways.

Donna, through your leadership on bird walks, communications, and your dedication to native landscaping, you have helped guide Lake County toward becoming a more welcoming place for birds, pollinators, and the people who care about them.

Thank you both. We truly appreciate everything you’ve done.

Next, I’d like to introduce our 2026 Board of Directors: Christian Deme, Chris and Paul Geiselhart, Sandy Hauri, Matt Hayner, Glen Moss, Diane Rosenberg, Lisa Rundle, Brad Stein, Matt Tobin, and Don Wilson.

And now, our slate of officers: I will serve as President, Matt Tobin as Vice President, Sandy Hauri as Treasurer, and Lisa Rundle as Secretary.

And with a vote of ‘ayes’ from our membership, we have our board for 2026.

As we mark this 50th anniversary, it’s a moment to reflect on what makes this organization so special. For five decades, LCAS has connected people with nature and brought our community together to protect birds and the places they need, now and into the future.

From a large-scale plant for bird habitat restoration project at Atler Memorial Park to Heron nesting platforms at Allman Marsh Forest preserve to the launch of our Sharing Our Shore initiative in Waukegan in 2018, bird and nature walks, extraordinary programming, public outreach, and advocacy, on behalf of birds and habitats, our chapter is incredibly active

I recently submitted our national Audubon annual report and within a day of hitting send I received three separate phone calls from representatives of national Audubon. They asked me, somewhat incredulously if we really were an all-volunteer organization. I assured them we are we’re just extremely passionate and engaged, and we have a tremendous membership in our community.

That work continues because of all of you.

One of the goals of our gathering this evening is to invite you to share your memories of Lake County Audubon, whether from 10, 20, 30, or more years ago, or from more recent experiences. We’ll be collecting these memories, photos, and mementos and sharing them at a future event.

At this time, I’d like to invite Chris Geiselhart to say a few words about the history of Lake County Audubon Society.

Before we move into tonight’s program, I encourage everyone to stay engaged with Lake County Audubon Society. We offer many ways to get involved, including bird and nature walks, educational programs, outreach events, film screenings, art exhibits, murals, native garden installations, and more.

Please stay connected through our website, newsletter, and social media so you don’t miss what’s ahead.

And now, it’s my pleasure to introduce tonight’s speaker, April Vaos from the Lake County Forest Preserves, who will be presenting on the Owls of Lake County.

Thank you again for being here, and enjoy the program.