Extension Recognizes Longtime Contributors
YORKVILLE – As northern Illinois residents know, weather can vary greatly from town to town, and for 30 years, Kendall County volunteers have tracked rainfall across the county during the growing season.
From April 1 to September 30 each year, these volunteers record and report rainfall weekly to the University of Illinois Extension office in Kendall County, and the information is compiled in a database.
“This important data is published in Record Newspapers and used by community members, agricultural groups, and other organizations,” said Sarah Fellerer, Master Gardener and Master Naturalist program coordinator, who also manages the University of Illinois Extension Kendall County Rainfall Monitoring Network. “We appreciate the partnership with Shaw Media to share this reporting, and all the hard work and dedication of these rainfall volunteers. In fact, we’d like to acknowledge those who have been with us during most of this program.”
Community members and longtime volunteers include: 30 years – Donald Brummel of Plano, Bob Friestad of Morris, Jan Kellogg of Yorkville, and Wayne and Lois Konicek of Plano; 29 years – Rolf Anderson of Newark and Ray Vickery of Minooka; 27 years – Les Maierhofer of FSA Yorkville and David Christensen of Oswego; 24 years – Rod and Patti Wheeler of Yorkville, and 20 years – Nann Armstrong of Oswego.
For 2020, Extension is recruiting additional Rainfall Monitoring Network volunteers for specific Kendall County areas, including the: Helmar area north and west to Route 71, Lisbon area, and Plattville area. Volunteers are adults, and may do this as an individual, family, business, school/cooperative or other organization. If you or your organization are interested in participating, contact Fellerer at fellerer@illinois.edu by April 1, 2020.
If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this program, please contact your local University of Illinois Extension office. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time for meeting your access needs.