Clubs & Organizations

Interested in listing your Club or Organization in the Park Forest Recreation & Parks brochure? The Park Forest Recreation & Parks brochure is mailed to all households in Park Forest. Contact Carolyn Hoff at 708-748-2005 or email choff@vopf.com to discuss advertising opportunities and rates.

Summer 2019 Recreation & Parks Brochure

Friends of Thorn Creek Woods
Join Friends of Thorn Creek Woods and support the 985-acre Thorn Creek Nature Preserve and its Nature Center. Formed in 1969, Friends efforts ensured permanent protection for this unique open space enhancing Park Forest and the region. Friends volunteers build and repair trails, create exhibits, monitor species, staff the nature center, lead programs, and raise funds for programs and improvements.  Members enjoy a quarterly newsletter and sponsor Earth Day, plus Spring and Fall meetings. Annual family membership is $20 or $50 for an organization; life membership is $200. For more information: 708-747-6320; thorn_creek@att.net; http://tcwoods.org; P.O. Box 32, Richton Park, IL 60471. Note new P.O. Box. 

Garden Club of Park Forest The GARDEN CLUB OF PARK FOREST meets on the second Tuesday of each month at St. Marys Church, 227 Monee Road, Park Forest, IL.  Meetings begin at noon with light refreshments; a speaker will have a presentation on gardening and related subjects. All are welcome to join us for an afternoon of food, fun and friends! Our annual GARDEN WALK will be the second Tuesday in July this year. Our annual FALLING LEAVES FESTIVAL will be in October, open to all.  Membership is open to men and women from Park Forest and the surrounding suburbs. We have a Facebook page "Garden Club of Park Forest”. For more information, contact Julie at708-748-8598 or jatownsend333@comcast.net.   The Blue Star Marker has been refurbished and landscaped with special thanks to Betty Doty, the Garden Club Board and the Village of Park Forest. The Blue Star Marker is located on the corner of Lakewood and Orchard Drive across from the Library. Honoring Those Who have Served Our Country The Blue Star Memorial Program honors all men and women that serve in the United States Armed Services. This program began with the planting of 8,000 Dogwood trees by the New Jersey Council of Garden Clubs in 1944 as a living memorial to veterans of World War II. In 1945, the National Council of State Garden Clubs adopted this program and began a Blue Star Highway system that covers thousands of miles across the Continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. A large metal Blue Star Memorial Highway Marker was placed at appropriate locations along the way. What we see today is a program that has expanded to include all men and women who had served, were serving, or would serve in the armed services of the United States. Memorial Markers and By-Way markers were added to the Highway Markers, to be used at locations such as National cemeteries, parks, veteran's facilities and gardens. The Blue Star became an icon in World War II and was seen on flags and banners in homes for sons and daughters away at war, and in churches and businesses. This program has been active all through the years to the present, a fitting tribute to our Armed Forces and especially now. Link:  National Garden Clubs Official Website

Garden Club of Park Forest  Meeting & Kay MacNeil's Garden Tour Tuesday, May 14, 2019  - Noon  Join the Garden Club of Park Forest for a tour of well-known garden writer and serious perennial gardener, Kay MacNeil’s Frankfort, Illinois spring garden. Kay’s one acre lot is designed to promote wildlife. You will be amazed at her plant collection of woodland wild flowers. Everyone Is Welcome. Car pooling will start at St. Mary’s Church parking lot, 227 Monee Road, Park Forest at 1:00 PM on May 14, 2019. The Garden Club meeting starts at noon at the church for announcements and refreshments before carpooling to Kay’s yard in Prestwick subdivision. Join us there. The Public is welcome. For questions, call Judith at 708-280-1126.

Kiwanis Club The Kiwanis Club of Park Forest, celebrating the vitality of our community for 68 years, is dedicated to performing community service for young people, the aging, and the needy in local and international settings. The club sponsors Key Clubs at Rich Township high schools and has repeatedly been recognized with Distinguished Club Awards. It will celebrate an amazing 68th annual Kiwanis Pancake Day on Saturday, October 5, 2019 at Rich East High School. Club dinner meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at Carlo’s Restaurant in Chicago Heights. The club also has special service project meetings on the third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Park Forest Village Hall. Call Elmer Washington at 708-816-8089 or email: elchicwash@aol.com for additional information.

Park Forest Historical Society The 1950s Park Forest House Museum, 227 Monee Road (St. Mary’s) is open Wednesday and Saturday 1-3:30 pm, “Park Forest 70th Anniversary” exhibit into summer; village history available. Adults $5; 12 & under free. Park Forest Archive, 227 Monee Road, is open Friday 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, or by appointment, Jane Nicoll, 708-481-4252. Seeking volunteers for the museum or to work on the archive collection. Five local history programs each year are free and open to the public. September 22, 2019 program to be announced. Visit https://www.parkforesthistory.org for information, to donate and for volunteer opportunities.

Park Forest Photography Club Have a longing to take better pictures? Have a new camera and don’t know how to use the camera? Why not join the Park Forest Photography Club? We’ve been meeting in Park Forest since 1981 and presently meet at Freedom Hall on the second floor. We meet at 7:30 p.m. the 3rd Wednesday of each month except July and August. We have a short educational program each night and competition to help improve our skills. Each month a different photo challenge is the competition theme for novice level through advanced level. We compete in B & W, color and Alternative Process (artsy) for each skill level. Membership is $35 per year. Visitors are invited to attend a meeting free of charge. We’d love to see you. For more information call Allan Fritz at 708-747-0717.