Beautiful Start to 2024 Season

Today was a magnificent start to the year at the Dunes. The water has continued to retreat, giving us a really lovely high foredune that’s covered in grasses. The Lake Rocket is sprouting all over the new sandy beach area that has been left by the retreating lake. A couple volunteers and I spent a lot of our time today in that area pulling thistle.

The little white flowers of the Sand Cress are in bloom around the site (<– as pictured here).

Golden currant (pictured below) is showing out on the upper ridge by the entrance. I hope you can see them in person!

Mark your calendar- workdays in 2024 are 4th Saturdays, 10:00am-12:00pm:

• May 25, June 22, July 27, August 24, September 28
  • Community stewardship workdays include – Invasive species management, trash clean up

RSVP to a scheduled Workday here.

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See you at there!

Scheduled Community Stewardship Workdays for 2017

Happy new year! Our first community stewardship workday of 2017 will be on Saturday March 25, 10am-12pm.

Additional dates for 2017 are as follows (10am-12pm on the 4th Saturday of the month) so mark your calendar! We encourage you to use the new RSVP form here.

• March 25 2017
• April 22 2017 (Earth Day!)
• May 27 2017
• June 24 2017
• July 22 2017
• August 26 2017
• September 23 2017
• October 28 2017

Scheduled Community Stewardship Workdays for 2016

 

Happy new year! Our first community stewardship workday of 2016 will be on Saturday March 26, 10am-12pm.

Additional dates for 2016 are as follows (10am-12pm on the 4th Saturday of the month) so mark your calendar! We encourage you to use the new RSVP form here.

• March 26
• April 23
• May 28
• June 25
• July 23
• August 27
• September 24
• October 29

 

Scheduled Community Stewardship Workdays for 2015

Happy spring! Our first community stewardship workday of 2015 will be on Saturday March 28, 10am-12pm.

Additional dates for 2015 are as follows (10am-12pm on the 4th Saturday of the month) so mark your calendar!

April 25
May 23
June 27
July 25
Aug 22
Sept 26
Oct 24

Stay tuned for information about special events and projects, like Earth Day, marram grass planting, Habitat 2030 and more.

June 23: Summer blooms and invasive species

Summer is in full swing and our favorite showy plants are blooming! Weeds are ever-present though, so we will focus again on decreasing the size of the cheatgrass population. Join us this Saturday from 10am-noon. Be prepared for hot weather with sun protection and plenty of water.

Rainbow Beach is located at 3111 E. 77th St. By foot, walk east from South Shore Dr. on 77th St. By car, enter from 79th St., go past the water filtration plant, and park in the first parking lot. Please meet at the entrance to the nature area, which is located at the southern end of the beach. Tools and equipment will be provided, but please bring water and dress appropriately for the weather. Contact Alison Anastasio at alison.anastasio@gmail.com for questions and to RSVP.

*Mark your calendar*
Saturday July 14 – Calumet Outdoor Series – Introduction to Rainbow Beach Dunes
Saturday July 28 – Stewardship workday
Saturday August 25 – Stewardship workday

Saturday March 24: Winter cleanup

Please join us on Saturday March 24 (10am-12pm) for the first restoration workday of the year at Rainbow Beach Dunes! We will take a nature walk to see which early spring flowers are already blooming. We’ll also pick up the trash that has been tossed high on the beach all winter.

We’ve got lots of events at Rainbow this year, and lots of interest from new volunteers and partners. Stay tuned for a complete schedule. For now, I’d like to thank Chicago Conservation Corps (C3) for featuring our event this month and to welcome Urban Sustain and Noble Network of Charter Schools who will be sending groups out to help!

Rainbow Beach is located at 3111 E. 77th St. By foot, walk east from South Shore Dr. on 77th St. By car, enter from 79th St., go past the water treatment plant, and park in the first parking lot. Parking passes are available. Please meet at the nature area, which is located at the southern end of the beach. Tools and equipment will be provided, but please bring water and dress appropriately for the weather. Contact Alison Anastasio at alison.anastasio@gmail.com
for questions and to RSVP.