Friends of the Chicago River
The Chicago River

Red FoxChicago River Day: Find a Site

(LAST UPDATED 5-1-10 at 11:16 p.m.)

BREAKING NEWS

Friends has been experiencing a large volume of inquiries from the public about participating in Chicago River Day. You can see below that many sites are closed because early registration has filled those sites to capacity. Don’t worry, there are still plenty of available locations and we are working to add more sites each day!

Please note that any groups of 10 or more are required to call Friends’ office at (312) 939-0490, ext. 18 to inquire about a site. This is to ensure that we can have enough space for groups based on the current volunteer count. Please note that we are only able to take 10 - 20 volunteers from corporate groups who are not sponsors from this point forward. If you would like to consider becoming a sponsor, Click here to discover the benefits of sponsorship, including priority site placement.

This is an exciting time and we are really excited about our biggest and best Chicago River Day ever!

WHAT TO DO

1. PICK A SITE. Choose a site based on what is best for you. Maybe it’s close to home, or perhaps somewhere you have never been to and looking for an adventure!
2. CONTACT THE SITE CAPTAIN. Email or call the site captain listed so that they know to expect you.**
3. SHOW UP ON MAY 8TH. Make sure to arrive at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 8th with a smile and clothes you don’t mind getting a little dirty.

CLICK HERE FOR AN OVERVIEW GOOGLE MAP OF ALL POTENTIAL SITES (This will open in a new window)

SITE UPDATES
Check back here regularly for updates. There may be…
- New or different site captain contact information.
- Additional sites or activities at sites.
- Closed sites (that have reached full capacity.)

GETTING THERE
Site captains can provide directions to individual sites. Contact your site captain as soon as possible.

GROUPS OF 10 OR MORE
**To register for group of 10 or more volunteers, please call or email Gina at (312) 939-0490, ext. 18, in addition to their site captain.

Sites by REGION

Region 1 Lake County, North of Old Elm/Everett Road
Region 2 Lake County, Lake-Cook Road north to Old Elm/Everett Road
Region 3 Cook County, Devon Avenue north to Lake-Cook Road
Region 4 Cook County, Irving Park Road north to Devon Avenue
Region 5 Cook County, Madison Street north to Irving Park Road
Region 6 Cook County, 31st Street north to Madison Street
Region 7 Cook County, south of 31st Street

CLICK HERE FOR AN OVERVIEW GOOGLE MAP OF ALL POTENTIAL SITES (This will open in a new window)

PLEASE NOTE
A site is marked as CLOSED if it is on private property, is assigned to a private group or has reached maximum capacity.

REGION 1 - Lake County, north of Old Elm/Everett Road

Greenbelt Forest Preserve (Lake Forest)
TBD

Middlefork Savanna (Lake Forest) sponsored by HSBC-North America
Tom Smith (847) 968-3329
Restoration/Invasive Species Removal

Shaw Preserve (Lake Forest)
Mike Hahn (847) 707-9878

REGION 2 - Lake County, Lake-Cook Road north to Old Elm/Everett Road

Deerfield High School (Deerfield)
Stephanie Chambers (224) 632-3276
Restoration/Invasive Species Removal

South of Park Avenue West -Highland Park Target (Highland Park) sponsored by Pactiv
Joe Hmielski (847) 918-5273
Restoration/Invasive Species Removal, Family Friendly

North Park (Lincolnshire)
Chris Fisher (847) 883-8600
Restoration/Invasive Species Removal, Family Friendly

Sleepy Hollow (Highland Park)
Steve Greenberg (847) 926-0722
Restoration/Invasive Species Removal, Family Friendly

Sutton Place (Lincolnshire)
TBD

Prairie Wolf Slough (Bannockburn)
Restoration/Invasive Species Removal, Family Friendly
TBD

REGION 3 - Cook County, Devon Avenue north to Lake-Cook Road

NEW! Loyola Academy (Glenview)
Jenny Snyder (312)371-1038

NEW! Somme Prairie Nature Preserve (Northbrook)
Laurel Ross and Christine Rey

Cherry Lane (Northbrook)
Doug Gerleman (847) 498-1155

Beckwith Avenue (Morton Grove)
Robert Shcoltes (847) 581-1514

Caldwell Woods - Oakton & Caldwell-North (Chicago)
Ken Wojcik (773) 693-3526

Chestnut and Tanglewood Drive (Glenview)
Debbie Hoffman (847) 724-6688

Dempster Street (Morton Grove)
Mary Busch (847) 966-7585

Harms Woods (Glenview)
Frank Bellucci (773) 878-4992

Linne Woods (Morton Grove)
Mary Busch (847) 966-7585
Restoration/Invasive Species Removal, Family Friendly

Meadowhill South Park, Middle Fork
Mike Piskel

Techny Basin (Glenview)
Hannah Nelson
Henrietta Saunders (847) 729-2329

Thillen Stadium to Touhy, North -North Channel (Glenview)
Larry Yablong: (773) 743-6307

Evanston Ecology Center (Evanston)
Al Pilgrim
CLOSED-SITE FULL
Trash Removal

Skokie Lagoons (Skokie)
Daniel Kielson and Dave Kosnik
Restoration/Invasive Species Removal, Family Friendly
CLOSED-SITE FULL

Edgebrook Woods/Volunteer Resource Center of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Cheryl McGarry, Cassie Hatzfeld, VRC Staff
CLOSED-SITE FULL

Miami Woods (Morton Grove)
CLOSED- SITE FULL
Sue Grabowski
Restoration/Invasive Species Removal, Water Quality Monitoring

REGION 4 - Cook County, Irving Park Road north to Devon Avenue

5025 N. Central Park Avenue (Chicago)
Shelia O’Neill
Jeff Wyse

Eugene Field Park (Chicago)
Steve Arnam (773) 450-4020
River-related Art, Family Friendly

Lincoln Village Shopping Center, North Shore Channel (Chicago)
Steve Casper 708-704-1893

River Park East (Chicago)
Michele Balice

River’s Edge, North Branch (Chicago)
Michelle Uting
Miguel Viello
Restoration/Invasive Species Removal

Horner Park (Chicago)
John O’Connell
CLOSED-SITE FULL

Northside College Prep High School, North Shore Channel (Chicago)
Barry Rodgers
CLOSED-SITE FULL

Ronan Park West (Chicago)
CLOSED-SITE FULL
Sean Shaffer

Ronan Park East (Chicago)
CLOSED-SITE FULL
Michael Herman

Gompers Park Wetland, South(Chicago) sponsored by AECOM
Tony Watrobinski, Jim MacDonald, Ron Valvick, Candy Gabriel Kathleen Jones, John Mueller
CLOSED-SITE FULL
Restoration/Invasive Species Removal, Family Friendly, Trail Maintenance, River-related Art, Planting

Gompers Park North(Chicago)
CLOSED-SITE FULL
Please meet at Gompers Wetland, site captains will distribute

River Park West (Chicago)
Tom Nelson
CLOSED-SITE FULL

Forest Glen (Chicago)
Marianne Preker
CLOSED-SITE FULL

Indian Roads Woods (Chicago)
Jonathan Sladek
CLOSED - SITE FULL

Berteau Avenue (Chicago)
Pete Leki
CLOSED- SITE FULL
Restoration/Invasive Species Removal, Family Friendly, Trail Maintenance, Planting

Von Steuben H.S./ Kiwanis Park (Chicago)
Wayne Schimpff
CLOSED - SITE FULL
Restoration/Invasive Species Removal

LaBagh Woods (Chicago) CLOSED - SITE FULL
Jim Doyiakos

REGION 5 - Cook County, Madison Street north to Irving Park Road

Fullerton Avenue (Chicago)
Jack Sullivan

Erie Street Park (Chicago) Rachel Driver
CLOSED-SITE FULL

NEW! North Branch Canal Cleanup (Chicago)
CLOSED. This site is closed to the general public.
Cleanup efforts will be conducted via canoe.

Lathrop Homes Wetlands (Chicago)
Tiffany Wilson
CLOSED- SITE FULL

Clark Park (Chicago)
Bill Donahue
Trash and Graffiti Removal, Restoration/Invasive Species Removal, Trail & Garden Maintenance, Family Friendly
CLOSED-SITE FULL

Lathrop Homes - Jimmy Thomas Trail (Chicago)
Jose Vilella
Trail Maintenance
CLOSED - Site Full

North Avenue (Chicago) - sponsored by Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
Isaac Sporrong
CLOSED - Wrigley employees, SITE FULL

McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago Museum (Michigan and Wacker, Chicago) OPEN TO THE PUBLIC — 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Visit Friends’ Bridgehouse Museum for this special preview opening. Learn about the Chicago River and get a peek at the southwest bringehouse before it’s official opening on May 15th. For more information, visit www.bridgehousemuseum.org.

Log Jam Removal : North Branch (Morton Grove)

CLOSED. This site is closed to the general public. Cleanup efforts will be conducted by Friends’ trained canoe guides via canoe throughout the North Branch. To learn more about Friends’ canoe program, visit http://chicagoriver.org/events/urban_canoe_trips/

REGION 6 - Cook County, 31st Street north to Madison Street

Origins Park (Chicago) sponsored by Midwest Generation
Geoff Morris

CTA Orange Line/Ashland Stop (Chicago)
Jeff Sriver (312) 341-9265

NEW! Bubbly Creek - 35th Street (Chicago)
CLOSED-SITE FULL
Sarah Hicks and Marissa Strassel

NEW! Lock and Fuller(Chicago)
CLOSED-SITE FULL
TBD

Bubbly Creek - Riverside Shopping Center (Chicago)
CLOSED - SITE FULL
Alex Curry

Lawrence’s Fisheries (Chicago) CLOSED - SITE FULL
Rik Lantz 312 636 2614

REGION 7 - Cook County, south of 31st Street

127th St. & Harlem Ave. (Palos Heights)
TBD

Ann Street (Blue Island)
Laura Foley

Lake Katherine Nature Center (Palos Heights) sponsored by Cynthia Weglarz Rountree Fund and ACE Group
Marian Sinkus
CLOSED-SITE FULL
Restoration/Invasive Species Removal, Family Friendly

Wolf Wildlife Wetlands (Oak Lawn) sponsored by Firestone Complete Auto Care
Larry Scinto
CLOSED-SITE FULL
Restoration/Invasive Species Removal, Family Friendly

McClaughery Springs Woods (Palos Park) CLOSED - SITE FULL
Diana Krug, Nina Hike-Teague

Site captain information for all regions will be updated continually. Please check back with us for future updates.

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