Sanctuary of Ash

by Pat Clancy

Nodding Onion - Wildflowers on property of DuPage UU Church
Photo by Pat Clancy

     The long-planned building of a new sanctuary at DuPage UU church posed a dilemma for our congregation.  We desperately needed the space and longed for an architecturally inspiring worship space; but a we proceeded with the plans, it became increasingly clear that to achieve this goal meant the sacrifice of our beloved wood lot where children ran along the paths and teenagers gathered in their teepee.  A wildflower garden in memory of Marge Lobik nestled at the bottom of a small slope amid the trees with their own under-story of native plants.  We were all saddened at the prospect of losing this treasure we had enjoyed for many years.  

Removal of Green Ash Trees
Photo by Steve Cooper

We desperately needed and longed for an architecturally inspiring worship space; but to achieve this goal meant the sacrifice of our beloved wood lot where children ran along the paths and teenagers gathered in their teepee.  

     

      An inventory was performed to assess what we had and what could be saved.  The results showed that 70 of our trees were green ash, which coincidentally were under threat from the Emerald Ash Borer making its hungry way across the Midwest.  The Morton Arboretum held an exhibit of furniture and sculpture made from ash wood and instituted a program to assist property owners in the salvaging of this valuable lumber.  ­­­This inspired our Green Sanctuary committee to investigate the possibility of incorporating our own ash trees in the new building.  The architect, Bill Sturm, was consulted and was agreeable to working this into the design – perhaps a wall, perhaps a screen, but something.­­­­­

     As the time came to clear the lot, the committee got serious and took action.  With assistance from Arboretum staff, we researched local millers and asked for a visit from Gary Carstens, who measured and marked the trees that were large enough (16” dbh) to be milled.  When felling the trees, Zrout Tree Services took special care and set those logs aside in the parking lot, where they were later milled on site by Carstens and then taken to his facility for drying and storage.

Milling Logs
Photo by Pat Clancy

Boards ready for storage
Photo by Pat Clancy

     All this took money, of course, so we had to think of a way­­­­­ to raise funds.  In the spring of 2011, when our former woods was a bare-looking field, we began to notice Virginia bluebells, then Trillium, then Mayapple and Solomon’s seal, followed by Celandine Poppy and Jack-in-the-Pulpit, each emerging on schedule as though still in the shelter of trees.  We realized we had to save them from the bulldozers and that this was the answer to our fundraiser.  Each Sunday during coffee hour, for about six weeks, we sold wildflowers dug by our committee members from the church grounds and raised $1000 toward the ash-to-lumber fund.

Photo by Steve Cooper

Our greatest pleasure, however, comes from the knowledge that a part of our beloved woods will live on in the new sanctuary, sharing our journey into the future.

    
 Now that we actually had the boards in storage and knew how much was there, the architect decided that it would be used as flooring on the dais in the new sanctuary.  Green Sanctuary committee paid the modest storage fee for a year until the building was completed and the flooring could be installed.   We are proud of our accomplishment, which took creativity and persistence.  Our greatest pleasure, however, comes from the knowledge that a part of our beloved woods will live on in the new sanctuary, sharing our journey into the future.

Green Sanctuary Committee Members:  Susan Camasta, Susan Birk, Pat Clancy, Bill Dawe, Kate LaGory, Ruth Schoenfel, Dik Claus.