Saturday, October 3rd at 3 p.m.
Duck Race on Crystal Creek

Last year, The Algonquin Downtown Neighborhood Assoc. requested that Friends of the Fox River (FOTFR) assist with preparing for and protecting the Fox River from runaway rubber ducks. We obliged and received a nice donation from the group.

This year, we ‘ll be back on Saturday, October 3rd. FOTFR will have a table where we’ll share specimens showing what lives in Crystal Creek. At 3:00 the race begins and we’ll be collecting hundreds of rubber ducks for an hour. If you would like to help collect ducks, contact us at info@fotfr.org A share of the duck sales will be our serve as compensation for our duck collection. Please take a chance and purchase some ducks HERE

Sunday, October 4th
Ravinia – Fox River Style

The Elgin Math and Science Academy (EMSA) has been a partner with FOTFR since the school opened in 2017. That year, FOTFR led an assemblage of partners to provide outdoor education experiences to all 200 students on every Friday of the school year.  Friday Field Studies set the foundation for the school’s path forward. The campus includes a Kane County Forest Preserve and an Illinois Nature Preserve. This gem is half of the only Forested Fen Preserve in Illinois. The other half, Trout Park, also in Elgin, was bisected by the tollway.

Join us on the lawn under grandparent oaks to enjoy a concert in this unique setting. FOTFR is a co-host for the event. Arrive early to wander the campus, enjoy the refreshments, and be part of a magical day. EMSA is offering FOTFR 50% of the ticket sales. Get your tickets HERE

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It’s Our Fox River Day

This is our grandest demonstration of partnerships. FOTFR is the organizer of this largest watershed-wide celebration. This year, the line up included 30 different scheduled events in the event. Four were listed as pre-event, as they were before 9/19, and five as post-date events. 16 were cleanups, and the remaining five on the 19th were a variety of learning experiences. Sadly, the rain, thunder and lightning joined us on the 19th and presented some difficult decisions. Many events were able to go on as planned in wet conditions, some were able to reschedule for the following Saturday, and a few big cleanups had to be cancelled. In addition, we added eight new municipalities to our list of now 23 municipalities officially proclaiming IOFRD as an on-going community event.

All that activity involved countless generous individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations, community service organizations, governmental agencies – all collaborating to implement the various events. In addition, were the many participants – hundreds of locals and some folks from beyond the watershed boundaries. Thank YOU ALL!

The founder of FOTFR, Pat Reese once declared that we cannot protect and restore a watershed with individual organizations and municipalities. It will take a collaboration throughout the watershed. That is precisely why the partnerships like IOFRD, EMSA, and the Algonquin Downtown Neighborhood Association all matter, and your participation, however and whenever it is practical for you, are essential for watershed protection and restoration.

FOTFR is successfully building a watershed of caretakers, and together,
WE are fixin’ the Fox.