It’s Our Fox River Day (IOFRD 24)

It’s Our Fox River Day (IOFRD) is held each year on the third Saturday of September. Individuals and groups organize events to celebrate, protect and restore the health of the Fox River.

The Fox River “watershed” is the total land area that drains into the Fox River; it encompasses over 2500 square miles and serves over 1 million residents. Protecting a watershed requires thinking and acting as a watershed. It’s Our Fox River Day (IOFRD) is the largest demonstration of Fox River watershed-wide protective and celebratory action.

The Fox River Watershed map below highlights events that happened in 2023 across the 200-mile span of the river.

To see all IOFRD events held in 2023, the map must be in full screen mode.

Click the icon in the top left corner to open the index. Zoom in to see where events were hosted. Click on a logo to see event details.

Beautify Boone Creek as part of It’s Our Fox River Day!	McHenry, IL
C.A.R.E.S.	Hampshire, IL
Dixie Creek Volunteer Restoration Workday	Algonquin, IL
DRiFT Cleanup	Batavia, IL
Fox River Cleanup Day	Waukesha, WI
Geneva River Clean-up	Geneva, IL
It’s Our Fox River Day	St. Charles, IL
It’s Our Fox River Day Clean Up	Batavia, IL
Oswego River Cleanup	Oswego, IL
Plant Chapel Hill	Deer Park, IL
River Rascals Fox River Cleanup Day	St. Charles, IL
Rooted in Renewal: Breathing Life Back into Oaks	Elgin, IL
Rotary Club River Cleanup	Carpentersville, IL
St. Charles River Cleanup	St. Charles, IL
TYS Help Clean Up the Fox	Elgin, IL
Village of Montgomery Rotary Club River Clean-up	Mongomery, IL
Willow Creek cleanup	Elgin, IL
Yorkville River Cleanup	Yorkville, IL

Beginner’s Paddle	Algonquin, IL
Dutch Creek Johnsburg Junior High Field Trip	Johnsburg, IL
Elgin’s Fox River: An Environmental History	Elgin, IL
Glacial Wonders of the Fox	Elgin, IL
It’s Dundee Crown High School’s Fox River	Carpentersville, IL
It’s Dundee Highlands Elementary School’s Fox River	West Dundee, IL
It’s Otter Creek Elementary School’s Fox River	Elgin, IL
Jump Right In – Fox River Exploration	Waukesha, WI
Learn to Kayak Workshop – Fox River Exploration	Waukesha, WI
Lyle St. gardens in Valley Creek	Elgin, IL
Mother Earth’s Listening Stick & Native Americans	Elgin, IL
Pancakes with Mussels	West Dundee, IL
Restoring the Fox River – Dam Removal & Reducing Individual Impacts	Aurora, IL

Beginner’s Paddle	Algonquin, IL
Dutch Creek Johnsburg Junior High Field Trip	Johnsburg, IL
Elgin Native Plant Sale	Elgin, IL
Fox River Cleanup Day	Waukesha, WI
Jump Right In – Fox River Exploration	Waukesha, WI
Kayak the Fox River on Your Own – High Roller Fun Rentals	Waukesha, WI
Mandala Dot Rock Painting	St. Charles, IL
Mother Earth’s Listening Stick & Native Americans	Elgin, IL
Pancakes with Mussels	West Dundee, IL
Rides for Rubbish and more!	Lake Geneva, WI
RiverFest	Port Barrington, IL
Tai Chi by the River	Carpentersville, IL
Water Ceremony at the Fox in Geneva IL	Geneva, IL
Yoga & Paddle	Elgin, IL

Spring Grove, IL

McHenry, IL

Crystal Lake, IL

Carpentersville, IL

Elgin, IL

South Elgin, IL

Batavia, IL

Oswego, IL

Yorkville, IL

Ottawa, IL

IOFRD = “I Offered”

IOFRD is pronounced “I offered” – a day intended to be both an individual and collective event that offers a thank you to the Fox River. The concept originated as a 200-mile cleanup to symbolize the need for a unified approach to protect and restore a watershed. IOFRD has evolved to include celebrations that go beyond the standard trash removal. It is intended to grow awareness throughout the entire watershed for the need to work collaboratively to protect and restore the health of the Fox River. It is also an opportunity for residents to be able to say, “I offered” thanks to my Fox River.

The Fox River serves 1 million residents

Without interruption the Fox River serves over 1,000,000 watershed residents every day. It carries the wastewater and stormwater from over 100 communities, and provides drinking water for over 300,000 residents. It also provides habitat for a diversity of plants and animals and is an exceptional resource for boaters, paddlers, anglers, hikers and photographers. All the while, the Fox River brings economic value through its aesthetic appeal to every riverfront community. 

Managing a resource that crosses a state line and several municipal borders is a huge challenge. FOTFR’s founder, Pat Reese called for a unified effort for watershed management in 1988. It’s Our Fox River Day is a step in that direction.

FOTFR’s Director of Education Operations Jenni Schiavone organized a full-length river paddle trip to help raise awareness about IOFRD and the importance of the Fox River’s natural resources. Jenni experienced unique challenges, inspiring moments and beautiful scenery along her 10-day river journey, paddling and portaging.

Jenni said, “I watched giant fish, turtles, and invertebrates in their natural environment as though it were an aquarium.” Throughout her trip, she also identified threats to the health of the river such as stormwater inputs, combined wastewater overflow, agricultural runoff, and litter.

See IOFRD 2022 Event Photos

IOFRD 2022 Results:

Between 2021 and 2022, the number of events more than doubled, the territory tripled and the number of participants quadrupled!
In addition to the events hosts, we had over 50 supporting partnerships.

2021 – 20 events, 60 miles, 500+ participants

2022 – 51 events, 200 miles, 2000+ participants

We are still gathering information and welcome additional materials, photos, logos and/or corrections.

Friends of the Fox River is grateful for the support of organizers and participants whose impact was too enormous to fully tabulate.

IOFRD Organizers

1. Municipalities – 9
2. Service Organizations – 12
3. Business hosts – 10
4. Individuals – 4
5. Large Events with Multiple Partners
   • Lake Geneva – 8
   • Port Barrington – 14+
   • Algonquin – 8
   • St. Charles – 20
   • Yorkville – 6
   • Additional various locations – 11

Together, we keep on fixin’ the Fox!