This week

15,000 years the Fox River formed as the last glacier melted. It shaped the physical landscape and gave this region unique habitats that include: all the deep lakes in Illinois, fens, bogs, streams, abundant springs, moraines, kames, several types of prairies and forests. Those habitats support a variety of plants and animals.

The Fox River also shaped the cultural of the region’s human settlement. Hear amazing stories from a premiere local historian Phil Aleo that will help you better understand the past and present value of our Fox River.

Next week

Starting July 30th, something new and exciting is happening at Schweitzer Environmental Center on Saturday mornings. Colleen Davidson, founder of Yogic Playground will be teaching all-level Hatha Yoga Flow classes featuring fluid movements and restorative poses. Her classes start at 11:00 a.m. and cost $20, half of which she shares with Friends of the Fox River.

Coming in August

Bring the family out for a fun and impactful event. Crayfish our part of our stream’s ecosystem. But a foreigner, the Rusty Crayfish has recently arrived to our watershed and is aggressively overpopulating some streams.

This event is an opportunity for the public to work along with field biologists in collecting and removing these “alien invaders” to restore the natural balance. This is a fun science event. Wear water shoes or boots!

The Big FUNdraiser

The annual No Clean Water No Good Beer is our biggest single revenue generator of the year. It is also Big Fun. Half the proceeds come from the entry fee, which entitles all our Friends bottomless beer, wine, and coffee sampling, and a variety of hors devours from 6:30- 7:30pm. The other half of the proceeds usually come from the silent auction and raffle items available for purchase.

All this in the open air of one of Chicagoland’s most popular beer gardens, Bandito Barneys. Attendance is limited, get your tickets today.

Living Legend – A Walk with John Duerr

This is a Friends only event, and tickets are limited to 50. Registration opens soon.

Join Jon Duerr (alive and well) at Jon Duerr Forest Preserve for stories of the land. 10-11 main talk, 11-12 various small group interpretive stops followed by a provided lunch.

It is pretty rare to have the opportunity to have a dedicated property’s namesake deliver their own story of the past present and future. Guaranteed to make your future visits there more meaningful.

Another Living Legend

CNN 2013 Hero of the Year, Chad Pegracke will open our It’s Our Fox River Day celebration with his own personal story of restoring rivers. Chad’s creation, Living Lands and Waters is the largest river clean up operation on the planet. Not only will you hear that story, but also his new visions, The Bison Bridge and new plastic trash reprocessing plant, Green Current Solutions. Not only will you hear that story, but also his new visions, The Bison Bridge and new plastic trash reprocessing plant, Green Solutions. Another guaranteed evening of inspiration.

Not only will you hear that story, but also his new visions, The Bison Bridge and new plastic trash reprocessing plant, Green Solutions. Another guaranteed evening of inspiration.

Largest Watershed Event wants YOU

It’s Our Fox River Day on September 17th is a watershed-wide initiative to demonstrate unity across a state line and over 80 municipal boundaries in a collective event. It was born as a mass clean-up  but has evolved into so much more. We are seeking 100 separate events over 200 miles involving 1000 participates.

We are now recruiting event hosts. Any form of celebration/recognition of the Fox River works. Cleanups big or tiny are great, but so are gathering of performance art, spiritual practice, and music making. Just get the recognition of the Fox River into your theme. This is a wonderful business or organization opportunity to publicize yourself and grow followers. Raising awareness, funds, or generating river appreciation are valuable experiences.

Put on the creative caps and dream up something joyous. Please visit to register your event and we will being advertising it far and wide, and handle your registration is if desired. Contact us at IOFRD@FOTFR.org for assistance on any level of planning.