This year’s Giving Tuesday campaign was a big success for the Friends of the Fox River (FOTFR). “We Need a Van” was the theme. You may have seen the featured video, our Facebook fundraiser, and appeals through our website, emails, and Watershed Weekly resulted in over $7000 in support. For that, we are very grateful to our many supporters. With a grant award from the American Beverage Association, and further encouragement from our board, we can now say “We Got a Van!” Thank you to everyone who contributed to this result.
Back Story
In 1999, FOTFR approached Kane County for funds generated by landfill fees that were designated for environmental projects. The request was to launch the Fox River Watershed (water quality) Monitoring Network (FRWMN). The award was for $78K with $20K budgeted for a mobile lab. FOTFR purchased a 1996 15-passenger van. The intent was to have high school students use the vehicle to bring materials to assist younger students in water quality monitoring at various sites in the watershed.
Dragon Wagon
Fast Signs in Carpentersville donated lettering and images. And the Dragon Wagon was born. The vehicle quickly became the organizational workhorse. The van served as the on-site equipment facility for over 20,000 students. It also had been integral in canoe trips used for education by 5000 students, teachers, politicians, and the public. The Dragon Wagon transported hundreds of students to many in-state and out-of-state conferences and appeared in many parades. For cleanups, it carried all the equipment, and sometimes the trash. It became too rusty to safely transport staff and the public, so it was retired.
Dragon Wagon 2
The green van served as Dragon Wagon 2 for a few years, but it was of the same era and soon developed similar problems and became impractical as accurately depicted in the video. When it became un-drivable, a panic search resulted in a donation of the Grey Ghost. From the beginning, a long trail of troubles made it clear that a “free” vehicle is not necessarily free of problems. On its first work trip it required on-site diagnosis and repair. On its second outing it died in heavy traffic and had to be pushed to the side of the road. That is when the decision was made to seriously upgrade.
The Mobile Watershed Academy
The new Dragon Wagon will also be hauling the boots and nets to various locations for student-use in May. In addition, several canoe trips are planned for that month too. This vehicle makes the vehicle shuttle not necessary in most cases. The interior comfort will be inviting for some planned adult field trips as we provide educational experiences on the land, along the shoreline, and on the water. A three-day headwaters to mouth trip is in the works.
will be our new workhorse. It is geared out for the current cleanup season. Opening day was in Batavia on Earth Day. Two days later it was in Burlington Wisconsin for a day of service at the high school. Last week it was in Elgin and on the 17th it will be in Batavia.
A New Look
The value of having the van as a rolling billboard was envisioned a few years ago. The First Congregational Church in Elgin award FOTFR a grant for a vehicle wrap. After a designing process, it was determined that the vehicle was too rusty to wrap. The funds were stored. Now along with a very generous private donor family we are planning to have a new look soon. Look for us at many summer events in the valley.
