Sangamon River Float Trip: Riverwood to Sangamon Greenway

Riverwood 564A CR 2400 N, Dewey, Illinoia

Join us for a free Level 2 Intermediate skill float trip on the Sangamon River! We’ll start at Riverwood north and east of Mahomet, pass through Lake of the Woods and go on to the Sangamon Greenway, where IL 47 crosses the Sangamon south of Mahomet – parking lot on the Northeast corner of the bridge. Meet up 9:00 am at Riverwood unless you wish to park at the Greenway (the endpoint). You can drop your vehicle at the endpoint by 8:15 and catch the shuttle up to the starting point at Riverwood. Please sign up here.

Mussel Survey: Hazen Bridge

Hazen Bridge 301 CR2600N, Mahomet, Illinois

Join us for a mussel survey on the Sangamon River at the Hazen Bridge.

Mahomet Music Festival & Duck Race

Mahomet 503 East Main Street, Mahomet

Parade: 10am. Walk with the USRC! Starting at noon to 5:30: Help staff or just visit the USRC display tent – and be sure to purchase a duck! 6:00 pm Duck Race

Sing-A-Long on the Sangamon

Lincoln Trail Homestead State Park and Memorial 39.805351, -89.104150, Decatur, Illinois

Soar Like An Eagle

Lincoln Trail Homestead State Park and Memorial 39.805351, -89.104150, Decatur, Illinois

Join Jack Nuzzo from the Illinois Raptor Center as he talks about eagles found in central Illinois. Jack will bring a live eagle for participants to view!

Annual Sangamon River Cleanup and Picnic

Riverbend Forest Preserve 1602 MidAmerica Road, Mahomet, Illinois, United States

Join us for our Annual Cleanup on the Sangamon River. Meet up at Riverbend Forest Preserve We’ll be cleaning up an area from the Sangamon Greenway to Riverbend Forest Preserve We’ll meetup first and shuttle our group or groups upriver to their cleanup section. Transportation will be provided on an as-available basis and there will be a picnic lunch afterward with food provided by the USRC for all volunteers. Cleanup portion should end between 1 and 2pm. Arrive at Riverbend Forest Preserve by 8:45. Please sign up here!

The Prairie: Then and Now

Macon County History Museum 5580 North Fork Road, Decatur, Illinois

Using his almost-finished tenth book, The Prairie: Then and Now, Dr. Dan Guillory, Professor Emeritus of Millikin University, will give attention devoted to the first Caucasian visitors who arrived when the big bluestem towered upwards of ten feet in some places.  He will also spend time on more recent and contemporary inhabitants of this unique landform.  The theme is the transformative power of the prairie, the way it defines our perspective on ourselves and the way we live, the way it changes our imagination.  Prof. Guillory has recently presented this program at two previous venues in Decatur, and, just recently, in Carlyle, Illinois at the Clinton Co. Historical Society.  He will read poems and use large-scale photographs to enhance his talk. You are cordially invited to attend and help celebrate the Illinois Bicentennial, which could not exist without the Prairie.