Shedd Aquarium’s anti-Valentine’s Day event allows cynics, singles to de-stress in nature

There are those who spend Valentine’s Day wining and dining, and then there are those who spend it raging.

A Shedd Aquarium event at LaGrange Park Woods on Saturday catered to the latter group. About 15 participants burned off steam by snapping, sawing and burning buckthorn, an invasive tree threatening native plants and wildlife in the area.

Ten-year-old Gideon Majka-Lauterbach grunted as he sliced through thick trunks and hauled large armfuls of the wood to a crackling pyre.

“To be honest, Valentine's Day is my least favorite holiday,” he said, eliciting a chuckle out of his mother, Meg Lauterbach, 48, of Brookfield.

“He’s anti-love,” she said.

Branded as an “anti-Valentine’s Day” affair in “nature’s rage room,” the event was part of the aquarium’s regular “action days” to restore and safeguard forest preserves and other natural areas. Volunteers included everyone from singles to groups of friends to couples. They worked for a few hours atop an ephemeral pond, which is dry during winter months. And they were rewarded with cookies, a heart-shaped box of chocolates, lollipops and s’mores.

Though participants admitted to the stress-relief benefits of the activity, no one was especially angry or broken-hearted. They were more interested in the opportunity to spend Valentine’s Day in a unique way and do their part to help the environment.

“We don't do Valentine's Day, so this is great,” said Kathy Nagy, 62, of the South Loop, who attended with her husband, Michael. “It's a Hallmark holiday. You go out to dinner and get ushered out within 45 minutes because everybody has a waiting list. It's overpriced. This is not how we show love.”

Buckthorn emits a toxic chemical called emodin. Clearing the invasive tree allows bottlebrush, wood reed grass and Joy Pyre weed to flourish in the soil and toads, frogs and salamanders to thrive in the pond. The volunteers made an impressive amount of headway toward this effort at Saturday’s event, which was marketed in a playful way to entice people to experience the natural areas in their communities, said Evelyn Alvarez, the coordinator of conservation action at Shedd Aquarium.

“It's a really fun and engaging way to get people to learn about the harmful things in our environment, what they can do to make an impact for their local spaces, and also a really great way to connect with other people with similar interests,” she said.

Antonio Marquez and Kayla Reum said throwing the trees on the fire was the best part of the day. The two teenagers attended with a group of friends. Reum dyed her hair pink for the occasion, and Marquez’s jeans with flaming pink hearts were chosen unintentionally.

“I’m just trying to do my part for the community,” said Marquez, 19, of La Grange Park. “It’s nice to come out here and make a difference. And it's Valentine's Day. I didn't have anything planned, so I might as well hang out with all the homies.”

Marquez also praised the instant gratification of eradicating the buckthorn.

“I'm seeing all these mushrooms,” he said. “It’s like you're making a way for more nature, and it's beautiful.”

Abbey Hays said the activity did allow her to work through some emotions, though they weren’t tied to romance.

“It’s just the aggression of not really knowing how to exist in this world as a young woman, and the standards changing so fast,” said Hays, 28, of Pilsen, who has participated in similar conservation efforts. “I love to be outdoors. I usually lead crews. And not everybody likes that in a woman. Not everybody expects that in a woman.”

As for Valentine’s Day, she said she had “mixed feelings.”

“I'm happy for everybody who gets to celebrate with the people they love,” she said. “But for some people, it's just a day, and you get to do whatever you want with that day.”