On April 28, River Action is hosting the twentieth annual Fish & Fire, our yearly friendraiser and fundraiser at the Rock Island Holiday Inn. The event includes a social hour, silent auction and cash bar, catfish dinner, and the 24th Annual Eddy Awards.
These award winners are leaders and pioneers. They are persistent tenacious and inspiring. They ask ‘what’s the thing that’s not in the world that should be in this world?’ and then they set about doing it—going against the current as an eddy in the river to get it done.
At the award ceremony:
• Laura McCreery will receive the Education Award for her work at North High School in hosting an environmental film, climate education, and in-the-ground beautification at the school.
• Gregg Smith will receive the Design award for development and installation with his Davenport West High School students of a water treatment resource for a village in Kenya.
• The River Activity Award will go to Chris Boar and the Keep Muscatine Beautiful for the many fundraising and community events from May to September on the riverfront.
• The Stewardship award goes to Jeff Craver, Rock Forest Preserve, for purchasing and envisioning a rebirth of 189 acres in East Moline for pollinator habitat.
• A Special Recognition goes to Molly Newell, EnviroNet, for brownfield cleanups and an historic building renovation on the river.
• Mark Schweibert, former Mayor of Rock Island, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award who championed the environment in 20 years of public service and philanthropy.
• A Special Recognition Award goes to Ed Choate, City Administrator of LeClaire now retired, for the revival of LeClaires’ gateways, Cody Road, and riverfront.
• Brian Dockery, RiverStone Group, will receive the Revitalization award for two donated properties ; 500 acres on the Rock and Mississippi River to Rock Island and one to Renew Moline in downtown Moline.
On April 15th, we will partner with the City of Moline to host an Earth Month clean-up on Sylvan Island, 9 a.m. to noon. Help us clean up debris and litter, remove invasive species, plant flowers, widen and clear the paths.
As we celebrate Earth Month in April, let’s think about how we can make every day Earth Day.