By Gary Swick, FOFR President I know something about each and every reader. You once lived in your mother’s womb. You relied on her for your respiration, nutrition, and waste management. The physical reliance ends with the snip of the umbilical cord. But you still have a bond; you were unified. We all are in … Read more
By Pat Kirmse Spring A warm March rain raised the temperature of the Fox River to 47 degrees and a 15″ smallmouth bass starts to stir. She is five years old and has survived another Illinois winter, the coldest and snowiest in her life. Fortunately there were no heavy midwinter rains that would have blown … Read more
On Saturday, September 21, Friends of the Fox River will coordinate our fifth river-length event on the entire Fox River from Waukesha, Wisconsin to the confluence in Ottawa, Illinois. Here’s how to participate. We are reaching out to Mayors, City Councils, Park Districts and Forest Preserve Districts along the river, along with environmental groups, faith … Read more
By Slithering Jack MacRae Queen snakes are gentle but squirmy water snakes with unique colors. They are not female king snakes, but belong to an entirely different taxonomic genus and family. Their very cool name in Latin “Regina septemvitatta” means Queen Seven Stripe. Queen snakes are about 2 feet long (big ones might reach 3) … Read more
By Gary Swick From time to time we profile one of our Business Partners. As our largest fundraiser, No Clean Water No Good Beer is successful partly due to its great location: Bandito Barney’s Beach Club and Bordello in East Dundee. It has been rated as the #1 beer garden in the Northwest suburbs and … Read more
By Art Malm, P.E., FOFR Director The Fabulous Fox Water Trail will open the adventure and beauty of our Fox to residents and visitors of the Fox River Valley like never before. Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You It is hard to really know when I started loving our Fox. For … Read more
By Jack MacRae The eggs have all been laid. Many thousands of the white spheres are now buried in our parks and gardens. They look like ping pong balls. The eggs were deposited in subterranean nests by our largest local reptile, the common snapping turtle. Common snapping turtles are truly common. They live in all permanent bodies of water … Read more
By Gary Swick, President July is a time for celebration because July 4th is Independence Day for the United States of America. This holiday is not religion-oriented, nor a family-centered time for gathering. It doesn’t involve greeting cards or dressing up. But it does involve decorations with flags and some extravagant performances in the form … Read more
By Gary Swick, President Remember Hilary Clinton’s 1996 book, “It Takes a Village,” and her 2016 Democratic National Convention speech reminding us that alone we can neither rear a healthy family, build a business, heal a community, or lift a country by ourselves? Collaboratively, we do better when we pool our skills, talents, perspectives, and … Read more
By Gary Swick, President Lying in a hammock feels like harmony to me. It’s the cradled feeling of being safely supported while swinging in suspension. It’s peaceful and joyous. May brings about an incredible demonstration of nature’s harmony, with many factors playing into a unified production. Can you imagine trying to orchestrate spring: arranging the … Read more
