Roberts’ Woods On Cedar Creek

We moved back to our hometown of Fort Wayne in early 1968, a few years after our marriage. Carol’s father, Frank Dulin, told us about a property for sale north of the city. Trudging through deep snow, we instantly fell in love with this site. We built our home here atop a steep canyon, overlooking the confluence of Cedar Creek and Willow Creek.

With our children, Kirsten, Michelle, and Eric, and four grandchildren, we have enjoyed canoeing, exploring, sledding and watching wildlife: foxes playing in the backyard, raccoon kits peering through the screen door, great blue herons wading, kingfishers diving, otters sliding down the creek bank, barred owls talking in the night, songbirds dining at the feeder, turkeys roosting on sycamore branches, deer running across the floodplain and bald eagles following the bends of Cedar Creek. We have watched trees through the seasons, shedding leaves in fall and budding out each spring, doubling in height over 57 years. We have enjoyed the beauty of wildflowers and ferns on the woodland floor, and moss and lichen that decorate the trees.

Our involvement with ACRES originated in our friendship with Tom and Jane Dustin and Jim and Pat Barrett, who were among its co-founders. Carol served on the ACRES board as Vice President and, for many years, as the Quarterly editor. Now, our property will join over 1,300 acres of forever-protected land along Cedar Creek, preserving its unique ecosystem. The influx of development and shrinking of wild areas in Northeast Indiana influenced our decision to donate our home and 22 acres to ACRES. With support from our children to make the donation, we named the property “Roberts’ Woods on Cedar Creek.”

ACRES promise to protect this precious land ensures that future generations will be able to enjoy this special place forever.