It’s Our Fox River Day (IOFRD pronounced “I offered”) is a celebration that takes many forms. Most of the events are litter cleanup focused, but even they have different flavors. The purpose is to gather as a 200-mile-long watershed of friends of the Fox to demonstrate the Friends of the Fox River (FOTFR) motto, Together, WE keep on fixin’ the Fox.
Collaboration
The planning begins in March and is officially launched at the Fox River Summit which is the only other watershed-wide event. Watershed wide is the mindset needed to protect and restore a watershed. Sounds simple, but it takes collaboration. 23 municipalities (eight added this year) have enacted proclamations for IOFRD. Seeing it on a map demonstrates the concept and progress. Some events occurred prior to the proclaimed third Saturday of September, most on that date, and some are yet to come.
Weather Woes
This year, the mostly outdoor events had the challenge of an all-day rain forecast with a topping of lightning and thunder. FOTFR’s IOFRD team offered our event hosts guidance and support of their cancellations, reschedules, or dress for the weather and go for it decisions. The difficult decision for cancellations was a disappointment for their hosts and all the registered participants. FOTFR is grateful for their loyal support and intentions. See you next year.
Partner Support
The day’s earliest event, Bow Wow and Bagels began before 8am at our Schweitzer Environmental Center. Thanks to our supporter of over 25 years, Big Apple Bagels, Elgin who provided a generous tray to entice dog park users to shelter from the morning’s lightning. There they learned the connection between FOTFR and the dog park.
Schweitzer Evironmental Center
Reschedules
Several hosts boldly pivoted to rescheduling for the following Saturday the 26th. Their action actually gives many of us the opportunity to continue celebrating. These included: Waukesha – on the water and shoreline cleanup, Algonquin community cleanup, and Tiny Trash at the former Carpenter Dam site. You can learn more and register here.
Rain Brave Rotarians
The Rotary clubs and villages of Carpentersville and Montgomery went forward as scheduled. They had a good turn-out and impact. These are wonderful examples of partner collaboration, determination, and appropriate preparation for the challenging weather conditions. These events and the whole IOFRD concept rely on such partnerships. Support your community’s service organizations important work and join them next year for IOFRD 2027.
Rotarians braved the rain in Carpentersville.
New Partners Emerged and Thrived
Four new IOFRD watershed warriors joined us this year.
The Aurora Public LIbrary District has been a great program partner over the past year. They also took on an IOFRD River Street cleanup for the first time!
Mike led the Chicagoland Franciscan Justice Circle in working with the Fox Valley Park District to gather the public from the Chicago area to Island Park in North Aurora. Its unique character was the pre cleanup demonstration and discussion about various faith’s commonality of environmental stewardship and how we can proceed. Prayer with intention and then they went to work!
their unique celebration.
Call in the Clowns
The idea to found FOTFR was created in Elgin. There is a common saying there, “Keep Elgin Weird.” Sobby the Sad Clown (Dannika P) created the funniest and weirdest cleanup in the watershed. Costumes were encouraged and clown noses provided for anyone interested, along with silly squeaky toy style prizes.
weirdest cleanup in the watershed.
Science in Batavia
Environmental scientist, Rebbeca planned Splash into Science for the streets of Batavia. Her pivot on the weather was to rent the park district’s pavilion. She purchased and assembled (with a little help from FOTFR) a variety of resources for children to make and take to learn about the river’s resources. Also, there was a new host and educational partner with FOTFR – Yoel from Loyola University. He brought preserved fish samples and his tools for eDNA censusing that he is using for fish and mussels in the Fox River.
by environmental scientist Yoel.
environmental scientist Rebecca.
Dual Event
Hawthorne Hill Nature Center in Elgin had the roof as a valuable resource that day. Visitors had the opportunity for a variety of ways to learn about the watershed. The feature event was printmaking using fish models. Their grounds are one of four sites for Wander with Wonder. This is one of IOFRD’s after-party opportunities. See that list here.
IOFRD 2026
The threat of lightning/thunder and rainy conditions caused some changes to the well laid plans of many organizations and participants who were anxious for the opportunities. Thank you for all the efforts invested. Nature is dynamic and predicting weather is challenging. The big day has had several successful pre-events, a successful day of impactful events, and now we have a larger list of after-party opportunities. Thank you for all the support and hoping many of you are not done yet with celebrating IOFRD 2026.
