MC woods donated to Shirley Heinze Land Trust

The heirs of Joyce Caldwell King and Ruth Caldwell Hilles have donated a 16-acre woods on Old Route 30, on the west side of Bourbon, to Shirley Heinze Land Trust. The donors are the fourth generation to own the woods, which has been in their family for over 80 years. They are Keith King, of Culver; Shirley Batty, widow of Anthony King, of Bourbon; Kermit Hilles, of Mishawaka; Jay King, of Stuart, Florida; and Carolyn Hilles-pilant, of Milton, Massachusetts.

“Our mothers preserved this land carefully from the time they inherited it in 1951 from their father, Jay Caldwell, until their deaths,” explained a family spokesperson. “Our whole lives we have enjoyed and treasured this woods – played there, gathered firewood, hunted, and even scattered ashes there. We know our mothers would not want it developed.

“We decided several years ago to find a land trust that matched their conservation values and those of our family. Shirley Heinze Land Trust’s mission of preserving and restoring natural lands and waters in northwestern Indiana represents what we were looking for when we decided to