By Jordan Mann

The Trailside Museum of Natural History is hosting “An Evening at Trailside” on November 6th from 5 to 8 pm; this event is free of charge. This is a chance to get up close and personal with the nature center with the friendly and knowledgeable staff and the animals. There will be a bonfire with smores, taxidermy demonstrations, a telescope will be set up for viewing the night sky, demonstrations on how to prepare food for the animals in the small zoo and much more.

The Trailside Museum is a unique place only one mile from the CUC campus on the corner of Chicago Avenue and Thatcher Avenue. The museum is housed in a beautiful building, built in 1876, with the small zoo holding the native animal’s right next door.

Trailside is actually a nature center, “We are very old, we were named a museum before the concept of nature center came around” according to Irene Flebbe, the Assistant Director. The entire nature center is open all year.

There are about half a dozen cages in the small zoo. “Most of the animals are native animals so they are used to the winter. The only exception is the turkey vulture. Turkey vultures usually migrate south, so our turkey vulture migrates to inside the building” according to Sue Dombro, the center’s director.

The center also has a small Ernest Hemmingway display. Hemmingway, an Oak Park native, used to hike and camp around Trailside before the area was purchased by the park district.

Trailside hosts new events almost every week and most are free. A listing of events and the museums hours can be found at http://fpdcc.com/nature-centers/trailside-museum-natural-history/