By Isabella Zarate
“Three words. Honest, professional, and a friend.”
“If you hear Homer Lake, everybody is like ‘oh Brian Taylor.’”
For more than three decades Brian Taylor has been the Site Superintendent for the Homer Lake Forest Preserve; and after 31 years, he has recently retired.
Stacey Clementz works as the Education Program Specialist for the Forest Preserve District and is based at the Homer Lake Preserve. That being said, Clementz has had the pleasure of knowing, and working alongside Taylor for 18 years.
“Brian is the kind of guy that is very personable,” Clementz said. According to Clementz, Taylors’ personability is one of the many things that attributes to his reputation.
Knowing Taylor for 18 years, Clementz has picked up on the community’s association with Taylor and the preserve.
“They are synonymous,” Clementz shared. “They go hand in hand”
As Site Superintendent, Taylor was in charge of a number of things. From running day-to-day operations, maintaining the grounds, and communicating with the community; nevertheless, Taylor still found time to offer a smile.
“If you saw him out and about at Homer Lake he would always have a smile on his face,” Clementz mentioned.
Another one of Taylor’s colleagues, Mike Daab, who serves as the Forest Preserve’s Deputy Executive Director, described Taylor as “dependable, diplomatic, [and] knowledgeable.”
Daab went on, “He’s just the most amiable gregarious guy.”
After working with Taylor for over a decade, Daab admires his work ethic and dedication to the preserve.
Taylor is “always flexible and adaptable to anything,” Daab explained. “He’s always been just really responsive to [the] needs of the community.”
Within Taylor’s time at the preserve he has contributed in a multitude of ways. As Daab put it, “he has been a part of every development.”
Though, in the eyes of his peers, one of Taylor’s most notable contributions has been that of the Natural Playscape.
The Playscape is Homer Lake’s way of connecting children to nature. The Natural Playscape allows people to experience streams, animals, logs, and boulders in a close up and creative way.
While Taylor has been there for Homer Lake’s every step in the past 31 years, Daab does not foresee his absence as a problem for the Preserve.
“He set the Homer Lake Forest Preserve up for success,” Daab shared.
While the Preserve may be set, Taylor’s retirement has still impacted those around him.
It was a “big loss to me when he left,” shared Matthew Kuntz, the Middle Fork Forest Preserve Site Superintendent.
“He was really a mentor of mine coming up in the district when I started here.”
After 18 years of working side-by-side, Kuntz grew close to Taylor, and sharing similar experiences brought them even closer.
When asked how he would describe Taylor, Kuntz was quick to share. “Three words. Honest, professional, and a friend.”
It is clear that Taylor has made a lasting impact on both the Homer Lake Forest Preserve, but also the community around it. After 31 years, there will without a doubt be a void.
“It’s so weird that it’s not Brian anymore,” Clementz claimed. “It’s just Homer Lake”
Clementz went on, “It’s going to be a while for people to separate the two, Brian Taylor and Homer Lake Forest Preserve.”
