nature

Saturday Outdoor Family Adventures

Join Friends of the Fox River educators and meet up with new Friends for our January edition of Saturday Outdoor Family Adventures on Saturday, January 21, 10:00AM – 12:00PM! Winter is a fun time of year to hike and look for signs of wildlife. Maybe we will see a fox! The duration of the hike … Read more

Friend Feature: Maureen and Larry Huey Go Native! 

By Jenni Schiavone, Friends of the Fox River Lead Educator Batavia residents and Friends of the Fox River members Maureen and Larry Huey recently took a giant leap. These passionate and active environmentalists invested in the conversion of their entire Fox River waterfront property from mowed turf to native plants. Maureen and Larry’s inspiration came from … Read more

The Mourning Cloak By Pavel Kirillov from St. Petersburg Russia

Meet Your Morning Cloak Neighbors

By Jack MacRae The perennial winner for the Longest Life Span Award in the North American Butterfly Category is our old friend the mourning cloak. This is one of the few local butterflies that hibernates as an adult. They have a sweet trick that extends their life span to an impressive 11 months! Sweet, Deep … Read more

By Lưu Ly

The Fox River’s View of the Pandemic

By Gary Swick, President Infant Species As the COVID-19 pandemic infiltrates the human space on the planet, many things well known in nature are surprising us. We humans are relatively an infant species here on the 4-billion-year-old Earth. We are still just learning nature’s laws and the consequences that come from ignoring them. Like infants … Read more

Gary S w_mask

Responding to New Challenges

We are learning that doing things differently (not necessarily by choice) can yield better results. Friends of the Fox River (FOFR) is meeting new challenges by offering our services of education, restoration, and advocacy in new ways. Everybody is experiencing some loss during this unique period: loss of life, connection to others, work as we … Read more

Kyle Della Fishing by Dan

A Child’s First Teacher

By Jenni Schiavone Dear Caregivers, The Friends of the Fox River (FOFR) Education Design Team and I feel it is important to reach out to all caregivers to acknowledge and celebrate the work that you do without knowing you are doing it.  Let this digital message be the conduit between my heart and all of … Read more

Cancelled – Second Saturday Outdoor Family Adventure

Due to public health concerns Friends of the Fox River has cancelled this event.   Friends of the Fox River invite you and your family to join us on the 2nd Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. as we explore special places throughout the Fox River valley. Learn what a watershed … Read more

Water Remembers

By Gary Mechanic, Executive Director Last spring at our amazing “Love Our River Day“ clean-up and community celebration in Elgin, Kathy Haerr offered a water blessing during which she said: “Water has a memory”. I mentally scoffed at the idea. I took her to mean that water has a memory the way we have a … Read more

Euonymus atropurpureus

Meet Your Neighbors: Meet Your Wahoo Neighbor

By Jack MacRae I think everyone should have at least one wahoo (Euonymus atropupureus) in their backyard.  They’re small, shrubby native trees that prefer average to moist conditions and do well in today’s crazy world.  They thrive in the filtered shade of wide-open woods and forest edges, creating a picturesque colony over the years. Shrubs such as … Read more

making rain

Second Saturday Kickoff a Great Success!

By Brandon Combs and Jenni Schiavone Friends of the Fox River Second Saturday Outdoor Adventures is a new program initiative we’re starting this year. We hope this monthly program will engage young community members and their families in regular outdoor educational activities as we explore the Fox River’s watershed. We are proud to report that … Read more