Dear River Bank Friends,
The days have been mild. The rain, tho not enough, has been gentle.
We still have lots to do, pruning and weeding, and fixing trails and walls.
Please join us tomorrow for stewardship, 9-11:00. (Saturday Aug 27th)
Look for us between Berteau and Hutchinson.
Afterwards we can share some lunch if you are able.
Hope to see you,
Pete

Aug 13, 2022

Dear Riverbank Neighbors,
Join us tomorrow morning for a stewardship workday: weeding, pruning and repairing. We can do a wildflower walk to test our flower ID skills, and Pete can bring you up-to-date on the Waters School Crisis. Please visit watersecology.org and sign  the petition and leave a comment. We are hoping to reach 1,000 signatures by Tuesday’s LSC meeting.
Meet at the River and Berteau Ave. 9:00 – 11:00
Many thanks, 
Pete

Aug 6, 2022

Dear Riverbank Neighbors and new community members,

If you haven’t heard what’s happened to Pete Leki, stewardship and protection of Waters Garden, or the entire ecology program, then please read here.

If you appreciate what Pete brings to the community,
if you love the riverbank,
love Waters Garden,
appreciate the ecology program K-8 at Waters for decades, bringing generations of Waters students to the Riverbank,
the forest, the lake, and the garden,
if you appreciate the Environmental Justice activism we do,
please lend a hand and send him a message of support that can be posted publicly, as well as signing the petition on the website.  (we’re not asking donations right now)

Please check here WatersEcology.org to get updates, read other peoples letters of support, and read the other newspaper articles and newsletters by Pete.

…

back to Riverbank Neighbors…

We’ve scheduled three scheduled upcoming August Riverbank mornings.

9-11AM Sunday August 7th, 14th, and 21st.

Sometimes we have to change the schedule due to rain or heatwave or other unforeseen event. Check the website calendar for updates, rain dates, or any scheduling changes on the day of the event.  We usually meet at Berteau unless indicated otherwise, on the east side of the Chicago River.  

Hope to see you at the river tomorrow, Sunday at 9.

UPDATE

The riverbank workday was delayed due to rain.

but the rain’s passed and a few people are on the riverbank gardening and will stay till 11.

on this quiet rainy morning. BYO clippers if you have them..

There’s a riverbank workday Sunday morning 9-11ish

9am coffee and flower walk, learn the flowers in bloom and in seed this time of year.

then, weeds, seed gathering, and clearing the path.

no update about Waters Ecology for now.

For those wanting news, please be patient. thank you.

Dear community, This is a true call for support, for solidarity with Riverbank Neighbors and Waters Garden, because the ability of the community to protect Waters Garden from destruction, the ability for Pete Leki to continue to take the next generation of students to the lake, the forest, the river, the garden, and to learn to be intelligent and strong forces for a healthy future for themselves on this planet, all of this work is under true threat, true peril.

Chicago Public Schools have destroyed parts of the garden time and again. The community has had to rise up over and over, to protect the garden, stealing our family and work time.

The Waters Ecology and Riverbank Neighbors community are intertwined and have shared common communities, common organizers, shared shovels and work ethics. We both are advocates for justice, environmental and social justice. We are activists, advocating for clean water (the river/lake), clean air (solidarity/hunger strike with General Iron protestors), clean land (in so many ways), and for protection and support for those of us in need, disempowered by the forces that be.

There isn’t time to fully explain the present peril. Envision the best of the riverbank and waters community and then envision our last steward gone, replaced by a low-paid part time contractor employed and controlled by CPS. If you want to take action, here are some ideas:

1. Pete Leki invites you to the garden this morning 10-12. Please email him if you can come early or on time and help set up. PeteLekisan@gmail.com
2. Write a letter of support. Or at least, quickly email that you are looking for ways to come together.
3. Make a note to read the news coming your way from Pete in coming days.

It’s exhausting to fight these battles. But, if we shy away, what is good will be left unprotected. I ask Riverbank Neighbors far and wide, and long out of touch, please write to Pete. Let him know you are there. This isn’t just about him and what he does, it’s about what he enables the community to do at the Riverbank and in the places where he is one of the last stewards standing.

~from other stewards of the Riverbank

Dear Neighbors, I’m putting Election day on our google calendar.

I’m inviting you all to do the same. Actually, as some of you know, we’ve got quite a few people in the neighborhood who’ve spent most of their lives volunteering for campaigns, so they would advise us to reflect on our commitment to having a good result in the next election .. how much does it matter? Would you like to join a group that is working together to make a difference? There are many good organizations to join, working for causes you believe in, of course.

People who work on campaigns and advocacy spend time in weeks and months before elections, making phone calls, going door to door, and working on elections. Maybe some of you would like to share your experiences. I’d like to find a way to share your stories. Please let me know. Jules

Dear neighbors, for 20+ years, the Riverbank Neighbors community has celebrated the Summer Solstice. It’s an event to celebrate the work, the beauty of nature, to share news of births and passings, and to welcome new community members. This year, we’re going to the beach and you’re invited.

If you would like to bike with us, please gather at Berteau at 6pm. There’s a group of us who do this often, even on hot days. It takes about 25 minutes at a gentle pace. We’ll follow the most calm bike route possible, kids on sidewalks with adult guides if the group is small. If the group is large and we have enough experienced bike leaders, it will be similar to a kidical mass ride. We ask all riders to only be positive and kind and wave or ring bells and say “thank you” to cars who kindly (or impatiently) wait for the bikes to pass. We will be biking all the way to the lake and back (with ~ 60-90 min of beach time in between) We’ll probably have kids with us, but please only bring kids with who have biked that distance before and bring plenty of water, extra to use to cool off. We have several 8 and 10 years olds who do it often, but it’s a hot day. We biked it yesterday with kids, not problem, so just bring water, and bring bike lights or reflective vests for the ride home.

Those who don’t want to bike are invited to join us at the beach at 7.. maybe by the bus or carpool. We’ll mark our spot on the beach with the big kite-like pinwheel that we often have had up at events in the past, so you can find us, unless the wind is too strong, in which case, we’ll stick near one of the lifeguard stations to the south side of Montrose Beach.

Suggested items to pack: beach blanket or towel, sunglasses for wind, drinks and/or nut-free food (there’s also “The Dock” restaurant at the beach or hot dog stands, of course), kites, toys for kids to build sand castles. ** bike lights and/or reflective items. If you don’t have them, it’s a good day to visit a local bike store.

Check back here for updates. Hope to see you there.

Jules

Wed, June 15 Honorary Bike Ride- Lincoln Square More info here https://fb.me/e/2uaPmL3ly

Sat, June 18 Welles Park Eco-Fest more info here

Fri, June 17 6-7 Seeds and Weeds along the riverbank with Jules. Join at Berteau. pleasant, light work, peaceful time to enjoy nature and be with community. weather dependent. check the calendar, email, or facebook page for updates.

Hold the date.  Tues, June 21 Solstice. Different than the past. Activism for bike safety. Ceremony to recognize heroes in our midst. Ceremony to commemorate those lost to cars going too fast and toxic car culture. We’ll learn about ways to save lives, learn some songs, learn some native flowers in bloom.  and we’ll see old and new friends. Please email if you’d like to help organize or do setup/tear down for our solstice gathering. Perhaps we’ll go one a RBN bike ride.  Other ideas are being considered, weather dependent.

Please check for updates on our Riverbank Neighbor calendar.

Next month is Chicago River Month! Let’s celebrate the important work of Riverbank Neighbors, Friends of the Chicago River, and others. Join Alder Matt Martin for a drinks and discussion about environmental issues at Burning Bush Brewery.

This event is a part of a new initiative called “Ward Night Out” that brings neighborhood updates and ward services directly to neighbors. You will also have the opportunity to learn how you can get involved in environmental issues locally, and meet other neighborhoods who are committed to addressing the climate crisis.

May 12 7:00pm bit.ly/riverbank47

Tomorrow, April 3, we scheduled a possible burn and workday at the River (at Berteau). The weather is “iffy” for a burn, but we will be ready if a window opens. There is plenty of other work to do, so please join us. If we do proceed with a burn, please keep children well away from the fire, so they won’t be in harms way and we won’t be worried and distracted.  The workday is scheduled from 12-2. If you can help set up, please come early (11:30, 11:45.) It might  be that the wind shift happens at 2:00, meaning that we might burn after the workday. Please stand by.

Dear Neighbors, in coming days, when the weather is right, Riverbank Neighbors will be conducting a controlled burn of some sections of the Riverbank at Berteau on the east side of the Chicago River.

During the burn, please stay well back and don’t distract the crew. Thank you.

A wonderful video about the much larger controlled burns conducted in the forest preserves of Illinois are is here. https://video.wttw.com/video/jay-joins-burn-crew-ai6x1p/

And another completely fantastic short video, highlighting the beautiful flowers of the region and a local photographer, Mike MacDonald is here: https://video.wttw.com/video/chicagos-best-wildflowers-v4zcuy/

These a really spectacular little film clips. Please share them with your family and your block club list. The clips show the larger effort that our work is inspired by, the North Branch Restoration Project. more to come.. https://northbranchrestoration.org/

Many thanks to all who attended our workday last weekend.

We prepped the riverbank for the coming burn, shared news, met new neighbors, had a beautiful day in the sun, and sang songs.

We also said a collective prayer (secular/non-denominational expression of intention) to protect those who are maintaining chernobyl, holding them in our hearts, hoping they could be protected and allowed to switch shifts and kept safe. We know almost everyone is very worried, but lets look to the good people, the heros, the helpers, the healers.. and the those working to keep us safe .. to keep our spirits up.

hope everyone is well. see you at the river..

jules for rbn

Sunday, March 20, 2022
11-12 Riverbank workday,
12-1 gather for fire, community, and small ceremony of hope, details below.

—–

Tomorrow, Sunday, March 20th, Riverbank Neighbors invites you to our first riverbank event of 2022, from 11:00 until 1:00 to observe the Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring and the official end of Winter. Soon, the spring flowers will come!

At 11, we’ll meet at the east side of the river and Berteau, and from 11 to noon, we’ll have a short workday and do some path maintenance and prep for a planned prescribed burn of the riverbank at the end of the month.

After the workday, at noon, we will gather around a fire and share news and have a small ceremony of hope.

In the past, many members of Riverbank Neighbors have been activists for environmental, social justice, and peace. Many are still doing that work or looking for ways to do so. And so, Sunday, after our workday, at noon, we will have a small campfire to gather and share news and gather for a ceremony, to light candles of hope for protection of all humanity from the violence of war and, for peace, for protection for the precious staff at Chernobyl in their most important duty, for the protection of all refugees, from everyplace in the world where people struggle to protect their children and loved ones in need.

We will light candles in hope of healing and peace in the world and in our own community, Riverbank Neighbors. If anyone would like to join us in song, we will sing together, one healing song, of hope for the children, for a harmonious future where everyone is welcome, where everyone has value, where forgiveness is possible and where there are no enemies.  We hope you will join us.

Thank you to all who attended our Controlled Burn Support Crew Training.
It was very exciting be joined by so many from the Montrose Metra Garden!
We’ll share that video in another email soon.

for RBN, Jules

Our Annual Burn Training will be virtual this year. Wednesday, Feb 23rd, 6pm. Please attend if you’d like to help be the support crew for the controlled burn of the native gardens at the Riverbank at Berteau and/or Waters Garden.

Many in our community have decades of experience and/or certification or professional experience in controlled burns. This training is aimed specifically at preparing our community to burn our sites, but may be of interest to anyone who manages native gardens or who wants to learn more.  We invite you to join us. We’ll share some instructions along with video clips to show what to expect and how to participate safely in this exciting part of native garden management.

This meeting is hosted by Pete Leki, (Ecology teacher at Waters), Sarah Anderson (Env Ed Program director at the Nature Museum), and Jules Peterson-Green (Riverbank Neighbors and the Green Council of the 47th Ward). We hope that many other neighbors with experience will also join to share their expertise. If you have been burning with us for years, we’ll give you the opportunity to share some advice or stories. Newcomers will enjoy hearing from you and we hope you’ll join us.

Riverbank Neighbors and Waters Garden communities have been stewarding and burning their community native gardens for over 20 years.

learn more…

RiverbankNeighbors.org

WatersEcology.org

Join Riverbank Neighbors, Friends of the Chicago River, The 47th Ward Green Council, and our Alder, Matt Martin, on Thursday, May 6th. more info here

Riverbank Workday Saturday, May 1 10-1pm meet at Pensacola and the river. Woodchips for the path and enjoying the beautiful spring blooms.

Riverbank Neighbors Newsletter Saturday Apr 3rd 2021

1- Riverbank Workday schedule for spring!
2- Gratitude to the Burn Support Crew for another successful year!
3- Task list
4- Waters and Riverbank family looking for apartment
—————————————-
1- Riverbank Workday schedule for spring!
The Riverbank Neighbor calendar of events is on the website and google calendar at this link.
We’ve tentatively scheduled some workdays for spring.
please check the calendar for updates and changes due to weather…

2- Gratitude to the Burn Support Crew for another successful year!
Once again, our community has completed a successful burn of the Riverbank at Berteau and of Waters Garden.
Gratitude to all who gave their time to attend the online burn support crew training and who were part of the team for the actual controlled burn.   A Gallery of photos and link to the recording of the burn crew training are on our website here.  This year, Pete Leki shared the torch with three Riverbank Neighbor women who had the training and experience, Sarah Anderson, Lisa Phillips, and Jules Peterson-Green.  Pete also assisted the Montrose Metra Garden for their first controlled burn. What a difference from decades ago when this was all new!

3- Task list
(from Pete)
Dear Friends, The sap is flowing and we have work to do. I ordered wood chips, but there is no-telling when they will arrive. And we are scheduled to be a host site for Chicago River Day in May, but for now…. There is a lot of work to do: We need to clean up  trash and trim shrubs in the garden that runs along the parking area; we need to repair alot of the little fences  (stick and string) the line our pathways; we need to repair and replenish our signage; we need to repair retaining walls that have shifted; we need to repair and replace some of our steps, we need to add a few new sections of split rail fencing, we need to dig up some prairie plants that have jumped into the path and plant them into the entrance garden at Rockwell and Berteau (Thank you Greg and Allison for creating and taking care of that area).
4- Waters and Riverbank family looking for 2-3 bedroom apt.
  If anyone knows of a 2-3 bedroom apartment coming available soon please email Jeremy and Jan Atherton.
They’ve been involved in Riverbank Neighbors and Waters Garden for a few years. Their child is a Waters student.
Jeremy is a neuroscientist at Northwestern and Jan is a talented artist. They have to move out of their apartment on
Pensacola because it is being converted from a 2 flat to a single family home and they are having difficulty staying in the neighborhood.  Perhaps someone could help prevent gentrification from costing us another community member.

Riverbank Neighbors have been safely conducting prescribed annual burns of the native prairie on the riverbank at Berteau for many years. Below are photos from this year’s burn, conducted on Saturday, March 20, 2021. Thanks to neighbor Melissa Schulze for documenting the event.

Additionally, here is a link to the March 18, 2021 recording of the Controlled Burn Support Crew Training for Riverbank Neighbors and Waters Garden. For those who would like to get more training, look for burn crew certification events in January and February next year. We usually conduct our controlled burns around the same time each year.

Here is a link to the recording of the Controlled Burn Support Crew Training for Riverbank Neighbors and Waters Garden. from March 18, 2021.

Here’s the link to sign up for May 8, Chicago River Day 2021, which is the one really big river clean up and celebration organized by Friends of the Chicago River.

Riverbank Neighbors hosts many workdays throughout the year, but for this one workday, we often have many newcomers. It’s helpful to have some of our experienced and trusted community members who can help show newcomers how it’s all done.

Masks still required, of course.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chicago-river-day-2021-riverbank-neighbors-tickets-145351330743

Here’s a great invitation to get ready for spring! It’s also a chance to introduce everyone to a fantastic Riverbank Neighbor, Andrea Knepper, of Chicago Adventure Therapy-

Guiding youth through the urban wilderness. Using a wilderness therapy model in an urban setting, Chicago Adventure Therapy offers therapeutic outdoor programs for under-served and marginalized youth.

Andrea Knepper invites us to join her to her presentation at Canoecopia on March 12 to hear all about her 3 month expedition down the Pacific coast. This is perfect for anyone, especially youth. It’s a great story with exquisite photos such as these, below. $15 for the entire virtual event! Tickets: https://www.rutabaga.com/canoecopia/vccTickets?previewmode=

From Andrea:

Join me at Canoecopia this Friday at 7PM to hear more about my trip. Tickets: https://www.rutabaga.com/canoecopia/vccTickets?previewmode=

Make sure to catch the other two Chicago Adventure Therapy presentations while you’re at it! I’m really proud of the work that CAT youth and young adults have done with these presentations. ” Using a wilderness therapy model in an urban setting, Chicago Adventure Therapy offers therapeutic outdoor programs for under-served and marginalized youth.

March 12 (Friday), 7:00 pm Central Time Andrea Knepper Dre’s West Coast Adventure – Paddling from Canada to Mexico Live

March 13 (Saturday), 4:00 pm Central time CAT youth and young adults All Boats Float: Welcoming People of Color into Paddling (Pre-recorded)

March 14 (Sunday), 3:00 pmVictoria Koch with CAT Young Adult LeadersChicago Youth Led Programming Pre-recorded

To draw attention to the effort to STOP GENERAL IRON, we announce a one-day Hunger Strike in Solidarity with all the Brave Activists Fighting to Stop General Iron.

Chicago Audubon and friends from other conservation organizations including Riverbank Neighbors and The Green Council of the 47th Ward will observe a one-day hunger strike on Monday, February 22 in solidarity with the environmental justice groups working to prevent General Iron from relocating in the Calumet area. The people, wildlife and wetlands of the Calumet area have borne more than their share of pollution, and it’s time for the City of Chicago to find a different way. We are using our platform to put pressure on Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Dr. Allison Arwady to do what is right. DENY the permit.

The one-day solidarity hunger strikers from our neighborhood organizations includes:

• Matt Rundquist, of the Green Council and Neighbors for Environmental Justice Advisory Board,
• Pete Leki, Waters School Ecology teacher and Riverbank Neighbors,
• Lisa Hish, of Riverbank Neighbors and the Green Council -statement- “I have the good fortune to breathe fresh clean air in my neighborhood as should my neighbors to the south. Deny the permit.”
• Ivan Handler, of the Green Council 47th Ward -statement- “This is how we express that we are hungry for environmental justice.”
• Michael Sewall of the Green Council,
• Jules Peterson-Green.. Green Council, Riverbank Neighbors, Waters Ecology,
• Heather Smith 1st grader Waters School Mom and Adjunct Professor, DePaul University Geography Department,
• Nick Anderson of the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Solidarity Network and
• 60 +people listed here: City-Wide page organized by Judy Pollock, Chicago Audubon Society

Solidarity can tip the scales away from injustice.

Background information about the hunger strike and issues

Local neighborhood organizing page for hunger strikers in Riverbank Neighbors and the 47th Ward.

Hunger strikers are posting daily on Twitter.

Twitter #DenyThePermit live stream..

in the news…

Feb 18, 2021 WBEZ Hunger Strike Continues Over General Iron’s Move to Southeast Side. The Southeast Side of Chicago is home to the most industrial parts of the city, bearing the heaviest burden of pollution near homes, schools and parks.

Feb 17, 2021 Block Club Chicago Feds Tell City: Don’t Issue General Iron Permit Until Civil Rights Investigation Is Completed

Feb 14, 2021 The Guardian The Chicago plant that sparked a hunger strike amid environmental racism claims

Feb 11, 2021 Southeast Side activists staging hunger strike in bid to derail metal recycler’s planned facility

Feb 11, 2021 Hunger Strike Against Southeast Side Metal Scrapper Reaches Eighth Day WTTW

Feb 09, 2021 Hunger Strike To Stop East Side Scrapper Grows As More Activists Urge State, City Leaders To ‘Do Right By … Our Community’

Written by Andrea of Cullom Ave. December 14, 2020

Someone died on “my” stretch of the River this morning.

I believe it was the guy who had been sleeping in this tent.

This tent was the 2nd to show up under the bridge. It was set up pretty precariously, on an angle on the bank. There was another guy living there longer, in a gray tent set up well, hidden under the bridge. He seemed to have a pretty good system set up. There was one morning his shopping cart up top was full of firewood. The next morning he had a campfire going.

Other mornings I sometimes smelled a fire I couldn’t see. I think those fires were smaller. They smelled like they were built with wood he found, not “proper” firewood.

Yesterday morning, the first morning this orange tent was there, there was a campfire again. For the first time, there were voices coming from that fire. The way there should be around a campfire.

Today, the orange tent was at the water’s edge, on its side like this. I had worried it would slide. I had also worried it would draw attention – it was to the side of the bridge instead of directly under it, and orange. So when I saw the blue lights of cop cars, and then several people walking up from the water, I was sad to see what I knew would be inevitable – cops moving the guys along. They’d become too visible.

I was wrong. A man had died.

The cops didn’t like me talking to the other guy – the guy I think was there for longer and had the systems set up. They definitely wanted me to move along.

Their body language was a little less suspicious when I talked directly to them.

* Did someone go in the water?

* [[ slight nod ]]

* Have they been rescued yet?

* [[ slight shake of the head ]]

* Are they still in the water?

* [[slight shake of the head ]] “He’s deceased.”

I told the other guy I was sorry about his buddy. That I’d seen him in the mornings and I was rooting for him.

The cop clearly wanted me to move on.

I thought about going back with a cup of coffee and a blanket. The other guy was sitting on the ground wearing what looked like a pair of scrubs. Not warm enough for below freezing temperatures – especially if you’re in shock or if you’re damp yourself. I really wanted the cops to have given him a blanket.

I didn’t go back because I figured they would be gone by the time I got there.

Later on my walk I saw a muskrat hanging out on the tree that fell several weeks ago, while a couple seagulls called over head. I was reminded that the world keeps going.

And then I was reminded how easily we say that when we don’t know someone. Even if we’ve seen them every morning. And how impossibly hard it is to say that when it’s someone dear to us instead of a stranger.

And I thought of the nearly 300,000 strangers who have died in this country from COVID. People who are strangers – almost 300,000 deaths that I can feel bad about, and almost immediately wax philosophical about the circle of life or the turning of the seasons.

I expect very few people will show up to mourn the death of the man who died in “my” river this morning.

My point is simply this. There are too many people who have not gotten the deaths they deserved, and whose lives won’t be mourned the way they should. Their deaths aren’t less tragic, their lives not less deserving of mourning, because they’re homeless or because they’re part of a pandemic with numbers too big to get our hearts or our brains around.

A man died on “my” section of the river this morning. May he rest in peace.

–

Dear neighbors, A caring community responds to suffering.

Andrea wrote this piece, we thank her and are grateful.

Other riverbank neighbors left flowers at the bridge and shared stories of brothers and friends who fell into homelessness. How we tried to help, often for years and decades, painful witness to suffering.

As a community, Riverbank Neighbors have a longtime history of working for social justice and peace as well as environmental issues.

The more that class inequities make some callous, the more we double down and refuse to be separated from the refugees, asylum seekers, homeless, and dis-empowered. They are our brothers, our mothers, our kin, our human family.

Lets lead towards a better world.

You are invited to visit our social justice page, where we have collected information about how to help the plight of the homeless and measures which contribute to prevent homelessness, like the eviction moratorium and mortgage assistance and places to donate.

www.RiverbankNeighbors.org