It’s Party Time
Grasses, sedges, rushes, and our biggest event of the year!
THREE WEEKS UNTIL THE BLOCK PARTY!!!
The 5th Annual Wild Mile Block Party will be on July 19th, 3:00 - 8:00pm!!!!!
We’ll have beer, food, music, education, and some super dope special-edition merch (trust us, you don’t want to miss it). RSVP so we know how much beer to get!
Wild Mile Workshops - Check Them Out!
Our Wild Mile Workshops are in full swing for the summer - come join us any Thursday evening around 5pm! We have a new topic every week, and our upcoming slate of workshop leaders is pretty dope:
July 2nd: Beginner Salsa with Las Nenas
July 9th: Organic Prints with Fannie Medina of Creative Vida
July 16th: Native Fauna Origami with Ty Yamamoto
July 23rd: Foraging at the Wild Mile with Dave Odd
July 30th: Nature Journaling with Chicago Nature Journaling Club
As with all our programs, workshops are free to attend, and open to folks of all ages!
Funder Feature - Salesforce!
The team at Salesforce has provided us with a tremendous amount of support for our restoration and community outreach work, and they also join us regularly to get their hands dirty cleaning up the river! Most recently, volunteers from Salesforce’s Earthforce initiative piled into our largest-available canoe instead of the usual kayaks. Thanks for your support, Salesforce team!
Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes - Oh My!
If you’ve ever walked through a marsh, wetland, and riparian area in the Midwest and thought “oh look, grass!”, you’re not alone. Millions of people all over the world misidentify grass every day. It’s ok - we forgive you, and we’re here to help.
While grass does grow in marshes and wetlands, rushes and sedges do as well. Sedges generally have flat blades, whereas rushes are rounder and straw-like. Grasses are jointed, with blades departing from a central stem. We distinguish them with a catchy, trendy saying:
“Sedges have edges, rushes are round, grasses have joints all the way to the ground”.
The placement of the joints isn’t too relevant, and is solely specified for the sake of rhyme and rhythm.
Next time you’re at a party or trying to impress a date, whip out this classy little piece of knowledge, and watch your social status skyrocket.
Collision Coalition - Contact Your Alders!
The Chicago Collisions Coalition (of which Urban Rivers is a member) is working towards bird-friendly building design to help protect our feathered friends! Chicago is located along a major migratory route, and is a hotspot for hundreds of species of birds. On the coalition’s site, you can find resources for contacting your alderpeople and urging them to support the mandatory bird-friendly building design ordinance crafter by Bird Friendly Chicago. So…go do that, please!!
July Events Calendar
Summer programming is officially on! Event descriptions and RSVP links can always be found on the events page of our website. Make sure to RVSP so we can keep you posted on any updates to events, such as weather-related cancellations! If you have questions about what to expect at an event, check out our know-before-you-go page!
South Side River Ranger Social: July 1st (Marz Brewing) - with a NMMA field trip at 5pm!
Workshop - Beginner Salsa with Las Nenas: July 2nd, 5 - 7:00pm
River Ranger Social: July 8th, 6 - 7:30pm (Off Color Brewing)
Workshop - Organic Prints with Fannie Medina of Creative Vida: July 9th, 5 - 7:00pm
Wild Mile Walking Tour: July 11th, 10 - 10:45am
Wild Mile Walking Tour: July 15th, 6 - 6:45pm
Workshop - Native Fauna Origami with Ty Yamamoto: July 16th, 5 - 7:00pm
5th Annual Wild Mile Block Party: July 19th, 3 - 8:00pm
Workshop - Foraging at the Wild Mile with Dave Odd: July 23rd, 5 - 7:00pm
Wild Mile Walking Tour: July 25th, 9 - 9:45am
Wild Mile Walking Tour: July 29th, 6 - 6:45pm
Wild Mile S’mores Night: July 29th, 6:30pm onwards
Workshop - Nature Journaling with Chicago Nature Journaling Club: July 30th, 5 -7:00pm
Partner Events:
Wild Mile Yoga with Grace Pisula: Sundays, 5 - 6:00pm
CatJam Jam Session: Wednesdays: 7 - 10:00pm
Fly Fishing 101 with Community Fly Fishing: July 11th, 9 - 12:00pm
Office Insights
At the Urban Rivers office, the Block Party is an annual ritual, marking the height of our extremely busy summers. We asked our staff what part of the Block Party they’re most looking forward to!
Maya: “Sleeping after it’s over”
Claire: “The heron shirts”
Sage: “Daydrinking at work”
Zach: “Nick’s raffle-reading - it’s his backup career path”
Nick: “Reading the raffle - it’s my backup career path”
Phil: “I've heard rumors that the mighty Sasquatch will make a blurry, distant appearance walking across the Cherry Ave Bridge (he's a big admirer of civil infrastructure & Italian Ice)”
Maddie: “Projecting El Mundial and seeing a Mexican win #Mexicandelusionalism”
Wanna find out what Claire is talking about? Wanna help us console (or congratulate) Maddie? Get your butt to the Block Party on July 19th!
