A Turtle, Some Theatre, and a Baby Beaver

Written By Urban Rivers

A packed September - and a new cold-blooded bestie!

Turtle

We have a new reptilian friend frequenting the Wild Mile!

Before you ask - No, this is NOT Chonkosaurus. This is one of our “Chonkettes”; which are 20% smaller and frequent the Wild Mile as opposed to Chonk’s Division Street stomping grounds. Nevertheless, we are in awe of her size and charisma.

Multiple turtle experts in our circles suspect that she may be carrying eggs, which would explain the excessive basking we’ve noticed recently. If she is, the eggs would likely not be viable, since it’s very late in the season. Nevertheless, we are honored to be in her presence.

Partner Event Feature

We have a bunch of insanely cool partner events scheduled for September. Like, more than usual. Here are two of them!

Night Out In The Parks: Reclaimed Timber

Reclaimed Timber, an original production from Chicago ensemble Beyond This Point, will take you on an immersive journey of sound and light as you explore natural areas near the Chicago River. Six percussionists play on six pieces of wood for an entire hour, allowing hypnotic rhythms and undulating waves of sound to crest and fall into each other, blending with the sounds of nature and the City. Accompanying the sounds is a reactive lighting installation made from over 5,000 LEDs and over 200 paper lanterns.

Snails on a Bike: Meet Me At Dawn

About the show: a day, a moth, a wish, a motor. The sun is setting and Robyn and Helen don't know where they are or what comes next. A flashlight beam angled at enduring love and disfiguring grief, Meet Me at Dawn is about one precious moment and what to do with it.

About Snails: Snails on a Bike is a Chicago-based theatre collective specializing in performing plays in site-specific, found spaces. They previously collaborated with Urban Rivers on Eurydice in 2024. 

Shows will be at the Wild Mile, at 6:30pm, on September 11th, 12th, 14th, 18th, 20th, and 21st. Get tickets here!

Funder Feature: HDR Foundation

The HDR Foundation supported us with a grant covering supplies for all manner of underwater research - including a super cool ROV that we’ll be using for underwater imaging and mapping along the Chicago River! Gathering information about physical structure below the water’s surface (especially under the gardens themselves) has been an ongoing struggle, so this new tech will be hugely helpful in furthering our understanding of what we’re working with down there.

Seasonal Delights - SAVE THE DATE!

We have TWO seasonal events coming up in October - make sure to save these dates!

October 4th (or potentially 10th) - Muscles 4 Mussels: an educational extravaganza celebrating our wonderful native freshwater mussels, which keep the river clean by filtering up to ten gallons of water every day!

October 25th - Howloween: Our seasonal canine festival on the Wild Mile, featuring a dog costume contest! If you have a dog, BRING THEM!

See you there!

September Events Calendar

September is absolutely STACKED with events! 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!

Urban Rivers Events:

Partner Events:

Office Insights

If you’ve made it this far in the newsletter, you’re probably aware that we set up a strategically-positioned wildlife camera to capture shots of a particular snapping turtle. It worked - we got a ton of great turtle content. But we also got a lot of other stuff. Observe.

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