Master Gardeners come together to refresh memorial site along Underground Railroad in South Holland

A group of Master Gardeners gathered to refresh a memorial site along the path of the Underground Railroad in South Holland on Tuesday.

Just off Park Avenue and Chicago Road sits First Reformed Church. Off to one side, a group of women was found refreshing Ton Memorial Garden.

They’re Master Gardeners.

Nadine Harris Clark is one of them. Her nephew, Lerone Branch, was an Eagle Scout in 2011, and his troop created the site from the ground up.

“I did this back when I was like 16. To see it’s still in good condition is insane to me. It’s insane to me. I’m grateful for it,” Branch said.

The memorial is dedicated to Jon and Aagje Ton.

“They helped freedom seekers navigate through South Holland as part of the Underground Railroad,” Branch said.

The site is part of the path for the Underground Railroad.

Branch’s troop made the benches, got the railroad from the scrapyard, and had the rock donated.

“When I was younger and I heard about the Underground Railroad, I never thought my neighborhood would actually be a part of that,” he said.

Clark and other gardeners have been maintaining the site ever since. She’s in the Master Gardener program for the Chicago Botanic Garden.

The University of Illinois extension Master Gardener suburban program approved the site in 2023 to receive their support.

“The plants that I used, at that point, were really plants that were not all native, but they were plants that the freedom seekers would have seen during their journey. They were plants that were in the Great Lakes region,” Clark said.

She said a majority of the plants used came from the University of Illinois master garden program, but some came from Chicago Public Schools’ Southside Occupational Academy.

“I went by yesterday. picked up a couple of plants from them and seeds. They are growing plants specifically for the marina and for this garden,” Clark said.

She said Wednesday’s refresher was a “labor of love.”

“I think it’s really important that we get back in touch with nature,” Clark said. “Nature is a great teacher, you know. There are many life lessons that we can learn through being exposed and out in nature.”

Clark said they work at the memorial at least twice a week. They’re hoping younger people will join the program to help keep the memorial maintained.