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Left to Right   Patty Wisniewski, Jeff Manes, Brian Kallies, Tom Desch


Kentland Rotary Previews "Everglades of the North"

The Kentland Rotary had the opportunity to preview the movie “The Everglades of the North” at its regular noon luncheon meeting on Monday June 4th. The Kankakee River and the surrounding marsh are the subject of a documentary being filmed by Producers: Patty Wisniewski, of For Goodness Sake Productions in Valparaiso, Jeff Manes, a Sumava native and free lance reporter for the Post Tribune, Brian Kallies, a free lance producer/camera/editor and native of Cedar Lake and Tom Desch,a free lance producer/camera/editor originally from Hersher IL are the team that have created this project.  The project started in 2009 and they have been filming interviews with scientists, farmers, historians, and other local individuals that have helped share the history of the Grand Kankakee Marsh.

 

According to the website of the Grand Kankakee Marsh Restoration Project “The greatness of the marsh that once covered a large part of northwest Indiana is well documented. The marsh was one of the largest freshwater wetland complexes in the United States, encompassing 500,000 acres in eight counties.

 

Wetlands and prairie habitats were intertwined with the Kankakee River as it meandered its way from South Bend to the Illinois state line, taking a 240-mile course to cover the 75-mile distance. The meager fall of only five inches per mile combined with the numerous bends created a giant wet prairie environment. Wildlife and plant life thrived, as did the activities that these resources supported.

 

The Grand Marsh supported a local economy that was built around waterfowling and fur trade. With waterfowl in abundance, sportsmen came from all over the world to hunt. There are many accounts on record of the great bounty harvested from the Marsh, with stories about barrels of frog legs and railroad cars of wild game destined for the Chicago markets.

 

Change in the Marsh came with development. As human populations grew, so did the need for land. The fertile soils of the river bottom provided some of the finest ground for growing crops. A mammoth effort to drain the area by channelizing the river transformed the Grand Marsh from a great producer of wild things into an impressive producer of grain.  Where once a local economy was supported by those that employed the Grand Marsh for a rich bounty of fish and game, a thriving farming community emerged.  As wildlife habitat was replaced by agriculture, the wildlife was displaced”.

 

The documentary will be shown on Indiana Public Television outlets across the state through the presenting station Lakeshore Public Television later this year.  Patty stated that this has been an “exciting project and this team along with the Izaak Walton League and the many sponsors and members of the communities within the Kankakee Basin have made it possible."

 

The major sponsors for this program include: The Izaak Walton League, The Lake Heritage Parks Foundation, The Efroymson Family Fund, a CICF Fund,  South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority, The Legacy Foundation,  The Dean and Barbara White Foundation, The Newton County Community Foundation, The Jasper Foundation, Inc., Waterfowl USA,  Dorene and Jerry Hammes, Albert's Jeweler's, The Nature Conservancy, South Shore Arts/Indiana Arts Commission, and The Jimmy F. New Foundation.  Don Wilson was the Rotary host for the program.