Generations of Love for Forest Park
Forest Park Forever is a nonprofit conservancy that partners with the City of St. Louis to care for Forest Park. Our organization is a success story rooted in generous community members and donors who support Forest Park for today’s visitors and for future generations. From fighting invasive species in the spring and fall to winter conservation efforts and year-round maintenance and construction, our nonprofit maintains the gem of St. Louis for all to enjoy season after season.
Our team was thrilled to celebrate with Forest Park Forever members at the annual pop-up appreciation party in October. Members and their guests shared their favorite memories in the Park, and not surprisingly, the seasons took starring roles. We hope you enjoy seeing the Park through the eyes of the community members who support Forest Park during this and every season.
Chris Schraw
The Many Birds of Spring and Fall
Chris Schraw has been biking in Forest Park for decades, especially during the years he worked at nearby St. Mary's Hospital. Over the years, he's seen a lot of improvements in the Park, but his favorite is the Deer Creek savanna and wetlands.
"What a brilliant idea that was!" Schraw said. "That's where we now encounter bird watchers, and I have even gotten to know one by nickname.
"We see him fairly often, and he really knows what he's doing," he continued. "I always ask what he's seen and heard, and it's amazing what he tells us. That area is so full of birds. It's just incredible."
Schraw added that his favorite Forest Park memory is seeing an egret take flight along Deer Lake.
"It was so majestic, and you don't see that anyplace else in the city," he said. "That savanna is a really great feature of the Park. It's just priceless."
Snow, Handball, and Art
The handball and racquetball courts in Forest Park have a special place in Christine Ackerman's heart. For one thing, she met her husband playing racquetball in the Park one warm day. But the days when ice and snow cover the courts make her think of her dad.
"I played handball at the Park with my father all summer long," Ackerman said. "We would play on even the hottest days, and on the coldest days, we would shovel the snow off the courts."
After Ackerman and her dad had cleared the courts for themselves and other hardy players, they would head to the warm halls of the Saint Louis Art Museum.
"My father enjoyed their chess pie, and we would spend the day just roaming through the galleries," she said. "That's how my father and I bonded—over handball, sports and athletics."
The Perrys
All-Season Healing and Inspiration
Bill and Denise Perry came to St. Louis from Hawaii, “where everything is green and beautiful,” Bill said. “Forest Park is the only place like that here, beautiful and green all the time.”
As a family, they enjoyed the greenery, the playgrounds — and the Park’s healing powers. “We would always take our children to the Variety Wonderland Playground,” Denise said, noting the kids are in their 20s now.
These days, Bill uses the Park for health and inspiration for his paintings. In recovery from cancer treatment, his physical therapist instructed him to walk at least three times a week. “So I walk in the Park all the time, there’s always something to see. I was just struck by it all, I liked it so much. Now I’ve started a series of paintings of the scenes I see here.”
But it’s not the iconic landscapes Bill is capturing with his brush; it’s something else the couple appreciates in Forest Park: “It’s the diverse community of people: the families, the immigrants, the students, everyone coming together in such a gorgeous space.”
A Peaceful Christmas Coda
Pets love Forest Park as much as they love their people. When Tom and Sherry started coming to the Park, their favorite thing to do was sit at the Boathouse and watch the ducks. But after they adopted their dog, Liberty, in 2005, the couple's focus shifted.
"Forest Park became her Park," Sherry said. "The first thing we did when we got her was take her to Forest Park."
One of their favorite memories of Liberty took place after a big Christmas Eve snowstorm. Undeterred by the snow, Tom and Sherry booted up and stomped to the Park for their regular walk with Liberty.
"We must have been the first ones to get to that area because there were no footprints in the snow or anything. Everything was still, and Liberty was so happy playing in the snow. It was magical."
Claudia Moran
A Summertime Civics Lesson
During the pandemic, Claudia Moran started taking her two grandsons to the Park regularly. They met a woman who mostly wore yellow and always biked around the "ruins" near the Franz Siegel statue. Together, they learned about echoes at the World's Fair Pavilion. They even named the statue in front of the Science Center: "Let's do the Silver Boy!" the kids would plead.
Moran's crew went to the Jewel Box one day, and the kids discovered the Korean War Memorial.
"I told them about the war, what the memorial was, and why it was so special," she said. "The five-year-old was a good reader at that point, and we made up a game where he would read a name off the memorial, like Paul Joiner. Then we would all shout up to the sky, ‘Thank you, Paul Joiner!’
Forest Park is an urban landscape in every season. To help us sustain it, join Forest Park Forever and help keep this gem of St. Louis an accessible and diverse green space for everyone to enjoy
