The Ridges Sanctuary has announced the kickoff of a $3.5 million campaign to raise funds for its new visitor facility in Baileys Harbor. As part of the campaign announcement, Ridges Executive Director Steve Leonard recognized a lead gift of $1 million from the late Chester Cook, a longstanding member of the organization. Cook’s relationship with the Ridges began in 1935 when, at the age of 17, he was asked to drive Albert Fuller, the Curator of Botany at the Milwaukee Public Museum, to Door County. He was with Fuller as the botanist & others worked to preserve the 40-acre parcel of land that formed the basis for the Ridges Sanctuary in 1937. To honor the spirit of possibility engendered in the project &, in accordance with Chester Cook’s wishes, the new building will be named the Cook-Albert Fuller Center. To date, almost $2.4 million has been committed to the “Bringing Nature to Life” campaign. The Ridges Sanctuary needs to raise the remaining $1.1 million by the fall of the year in order to meet the construction timetable & break ground in the spring of 2014. Information on the campaign is available at…http://www.ridgessanctuary.org/
