| Tomorrow, Saturday, May 8th is the big city-wide River Day, organized by Friends of the Chicago River, which was founded in 1979 when the river was desperately more polluted and had almost no fish in it anymore. ‘Friends’ is responsible for organizing Chicagoans to fight for the improvements that have brought our river back to life. If you aren’t a member yet, If you love the river, then you’ll want to become a member of Friends. They send a great newsletter all about the river that shows how much great work is going on to improve the quality of the river. Our local group, Riverbank Neighbors has been partnering with and supported by Friends of the Chicago River for decades. On River Day, we usually have 20-30 new people show up at Berteau around 9am. We need to show them what work needs to be done. For this, we need some of our experienced neighbors who already know the work to help lead the event. Although Riverbank Neighbors hosts many many workdays throughout the year, River Day is a special day for us because on that day, we often recruit new wonderful members who find us through the Friends of the Chicago River website. We also love being one of many many sites for the big city-wide event! This year, as in most previous years, our site is full. If you come to Riverbank Neighbor workdays often and know the tasks fairly well (digging up natives that have spread to the path, weeding, or wood chipping) and if you are willing to show newcomers how to do it, please join us tomorrow (even if you didn’t sign up yet) between 9 and 12 in the morning. (please reply to this email to let us know you can come. Thank you!) We’ll be joined for a show of support by our Alder* Matt Martin and State Senator Sara Feigenholtz. In non-covid years, all participants were invited to gather for one big celebration after the event with music, visiting nature educators, and fun games for kids. next year, we hope to celebrate together again. We hope everyone will get vaccinated to help such celebrations possible. For now, please bring your masks and respect people’s personal space for covid reasons. Thank you so much, we look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Upcoming dates are on our website at the link here. |