Workday Schedule
Friends of the Chicago Portage volunteer workdays will usually be conducted on the last Saturday of every month (except in December) from 9AM to Noon in Portage Woods Forest Preserve (4800 S. Harlem). Volunteers should dress appropriately for the weather and wear workclothes, workgloves and heavy boots or workshoes.
Our workday activities change with the seasons. Spring is the time to remove garlic mustard and plant native species. Summer finds us keeping the trails clear of encroaching vegetation and removing European buckthorn. Fall is the time to plant natives, cut buckthorn and build brushpiles. In the winter we stay warm by burning the buckthorn brushpiles in giant bonfires, and we toast marshmallows and warm our no-good cook Pierre's delicious Portage pea soup in the bonfire coals.
Meet at the statue in Portage Woods Forest Preserve
(4800 S. Harlem Ave. Lyons, IL).Call Gary Mechanic at 773-590-0710 for
more information and to check on weather cancellations.
Visit the Chicago Portage Workday Volunteers on Facebook.
2010 Workdays
All workdays are from 9am to Noon
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Saturday, February 27,
Saturday, March 27,
Saturday, April 24, Pickin' & Plantin' Workday - Garlic Mustard Pickin' Contest
Saturday, May 29,
Saturday, June 26,
Saturday, July 31,
Saturday, August 28,
Saturday, September 25,
Saturday, October 30,
Saturday, November 27,
Saturday, December 18, Bonfire Party! (Note - not the last Sat.)
Friends' volunteers work like beavers weeding the woods
School and other groups are invited to visit the site to help with restoration activities or for tours and interpretive programs. Weekday group ecological restoration workdays will be conducted by Forest Preserve District staff on the last Friday of every month from 10AM to Noon. Contact the Forest Preserve District staff at the Little Red Schoolhouse 708-839-6897 to arrange weekday workdays or visits.