Passive Use of Gillson:
Gillson Park Needs Stewards, Not Developers 

We didn’t seek Mayberry stillness when our family of three arrived from Chicago to Wilmette 14 years ago. We wanted to be closer to work, access good public schools, escape the constant blare of city life while retaining access to Chicago. Wilmette’s proximity to the lake and Gillson park’s gentle hum of activity was a significant factor in our decision to settle here. We anticipated and initially experienced it is a respite we could lean on to balance the demands of work. We envisioned it providing our two kids, one still on the way, with the healthy backdrop that nature brings. A salve of grounding to what is, the pressure cooker that is life. In a short time, things have shifted.

I’m not sure who is being served through the Wilmette Park District’s Comprehensive Plan for Gillson, a plan to make “A Greater Gillson”. I’ll take a moment (and grammatical license) to point out the people I’ve noted, whom Gillson already serves: morning and evening walkers, birders, runners, beach bummers, swimmers, sailors, book readers, SUP’ers, sunbathers, stair climbers, tri-athalon-ers, new drivers license seekers, photographers, hamock-ers, kite flyers, HS graduate sunrise watchers, metal detector-res, tennis players, volleyball players, fetch the stick players, birders, voters, last day of school revelers, sitting on the grass or in the car ponderers, first-love kissers, picnickers, BBQers, get the kids out of the housers, playground players and king of the whale competitors. Abba Salute rockers, July 3rd flockers, Michigan Shores wedding celebrators, Covid 19 quarantine-rs, nature admirers, ice skaters, cicada hunters, waiting for parent to pick me up partiers, danger seeking sledders, wind and wave wanderers, meet up with friends partakers, sunset seekers, learning to ride cyclers, shade seekers, peace seekers, outdoor theater goers.

I once conversed with a local gentleman who recalled riding bicycles with buddies to Gillson. He noted you could feel the temperature shift while heading eastward, lake breezes heralding the cool relief that awaited them on hot summer days. What do we get now heading eastward toward Gillson? What do you, as a fellow resident of Wilmette, feel these days when you set off to the park or the beach? Do you ever, like me, decide it will be more relaxing to stay at home because venturing to Gillson Park feels more like a trip to Six Flags Great America?

The Wilmette Village and Park District logos both feature a tree and I would like to see it remain a true representation, not an empty slogan. Moving from an urban high rise to a single family home in Wilmette we’ve had to learn about tending trees and landscape upkeep. It takes commitment and money to co-exist with trees. The reward of this tree tending, is what one sees from any vantage point, what one breathes in and the relief one feels to share space with something that develops naturally, slowly, stately. Add in the sand, lake, grass, plants and wildlife and I would suggest that Gillson is not already great, but enchanting.

Gillson needs stewards, not developers! Don’t we all benefit when we have a place to step back from the ever “progressive” pursuits of life and step into the presence of natures noble agenda? 

Written, with respect, by Laurie Farrell