The residents of Friendship Village in Schaumburg enjoyed a summer dedicated to birds. For the Love of Birds was an interdisciplinary look at our fine feathered friends. “The residents are fascinated by birds, and there are so many area resources for us to use, to explore the topic,” said Donna Brown, lifestyles activities manager for Friendship Village. “It’s fun to take an interesting topic and run with it, or in this case, fly with it.”

The series began with a visit from Coco the talking and singing parrot, who entertained and entranced the residents.

Friendship Village resident Dick Ruffalo, who has a long-time passion for nature in general, and birds in particular, is a volunteer at the Volkening Heritage Farm and Spring Valley Nature Center. Eager to share his knowledge, Dick brought an egg incubator with chicken eggs to the community and residents were able to watch them hatch. After 21 days of incubation, the residents of Friendship Village were blessed with two adorable little black chicks.

Dick also presented a program “Everything You Wanted to Know about Chickens”, and brought a hen and rooster from Volkening Heritage Farms to visit.

The series of programs and events also included trips, bird-related craft classes and movies.

The For the Love of Birds show, displayed residents’ personal collections of artwork, craft projects and keepsakes relating to birds. There were also live birds present including birds of prey, residents’ pets, and baby chicks.

“The series gave us a ‘bird’s eye view’ of all things fowl,” quipped Donna. “It was very educational and a lot of fun for everyone to put together.”