About Our Chapter

Founded: April 13th, 2000
Chartered: February 17th, 2001

Chapter founder’s Carla Freeman and Nan Calvert started the Wild Ones Root River Chapter in April of 2000. The beginning was a bit synchronicity. Nan had spoken to people from another chapter and lamented that there wasn’t a chapter in the Racine area. They said, “Why don’t you start one?” So, she called the Wild Ones National Office and they said, “There is a woman in Caledonia named Carla Freeman and she wants to start a chapter too.” Nan went to the first meeting Carla held at her farm, volunteered to help her and the rest is history. Regina Harders is our current chapter President, beginning her term in 2019 after former chapter President Christina Russin retired and went on the road traveling in her RV nicknamed “Gracie Lou”. 

Our first native plant sale started small and was held at Almost Eden Nursery in Somers.  Other host locations were Racine’s Riverbend Nature Center, Kenosha County Center, Burlington Seno Center and at Gateway Technical College’s Pike Creek Horticulture Center in Kenosha. Our 2020 sale was put on hold due to the Covid-19 Global Pandemic.  We made the decision to offer a “virtual preorder and pickup only” in 2021 and debuted our new online native plant sale store in 2022.  

We will not be hosting an in-person sale in 2023.