It was a beautiful and somewhat windy fall day when a merry group of volunteers set out to plant over 50 shrubs in River Park.

Over 20 friends and neighbors came out to get a little exercise and plant some bird habitat.

Funds were raised by Chicago Audubon Society and included a grant from Changex. Steward and TreeKeeper Raed Mansour led the workday, with team leaders Colleen McVeigh, Alix Gnoske and Judy Pollock. Lots of neighbors, TreeKeepers and CAS members joined in. CAS has also organized a monitoring effort so that we will have before and after data.

We will have one additional planting day in 2023.

Here are photos of the day, taken by Raed Mansour. You can see the native roses that will grow up the fence; the beginnings of a cascade of vegetation that will lead birds up from the riverbank; the rubble-y soil in some spots and the mushroom compost we used to counteract that; steward Raed Mansour; team leaders Colleen McVeigh, Alix Gnoske and Judy Pollock; Chicago Park District Representative Lauren Umek; Salina Flores Mansour holding down the registration table; and many community members and other volunteers. Next time you’re in River Park check the east bank for our plantings!