The folks in Evergreen Park, Illinois would rather be golfing than going to Home Depot. According to an account in the Chicago Sun Times, a group called “Keep the Green in Evergreen” managed to handicap Home Depot in the latest round played in the village. Home Depot tried to locate a store in Evergreen Park, on land that for the past 70 years has served the community as a golf course. In early December, the Village Board was beseiged by more than 1,200 village residents who showed up to drive Home Depot into a sand trap. Evergreen Park Trustee Mary Murphey told reporters that Home Depot thought it could hit a hole in one at the Village Board — but local residents stepped up to the ball and knocked it clear off the course. “Don’t take our land and don’t tell us what to do,” Murphey said was residents’ message to the Atlanta company.
As a result of community organizing, the Evergreen County Club is still open for business in Evergreen Park — but Home Depot won’t be making any green in this village. Just goes to prove what can happen when a group of resident’s keep their eye on the ball.
