Annual Events

Earth Day Celebration and Park Cleaning

Each April volunteers get together to clean our local parks.  The largest efforts have been at Ehrler Park and Churchill Field Park.  At Ehrler we have mulched the plants and cleaned and re-filled the sand box, while raking and sweeping the park. At Churchill Field Park we maintain the Damen Ave border garden, with plantings and mulching.   The Dog Park Improvement Committee of the Churchill Park Advisory Council does the monthly cleaning there and coordinates the murals.  They can be found on Facebook at Churchill Dog Park, Chicago

Please volunteer to help on Earth Day 2012 – April 21 – 9am Rain or Shine at either of these 2 parks.  The Friends of Holstein Park coordinate the event at that location.  If anyone would like to be a park leader for Walsh Park please let us know at bucktown@bucktown.org

Annual Bucktown Tree and Garden Walk

The second full weekend of July opens our neighborhood and 100 gardens to visitors.  The Welcome Table is at our presenting sponsor location – Club Lucky, 1834 W Wabansia – from 11 am to 5 pm each day.  Dedicated volunteers have identified 100 trees on our streets and inventory a Tree of the Year as well.

Guided Tree Walks

In each season there is a guided TreeWalk using the information collected for the July Tree and GardenWalk.

Movies in the Park

Bring out the blanket and the lawn chairs and join your neighbors in Churchill Field Park (1825 N Damen) for monthly outdoor movies, sponsored by the BCO and our local business sponsors.   The movie starts at dusk.  Each year we pick a Chicago based film, a pop classic and an animated feature film.

We hope you had fun in 2011.  Keep an eye out for 2012 dates!

Education Forum

This Fall event is a must attend for the parents and parents to be of Bucktown.  We bring together representatives from each of our local schools and education related businesses in this open forum.  Over the past few years we have been able to present valuable information on how the Chicago School System works and how you can improve the education options in the neighborhood schools by becoming involved.

The 2011 Education Forum was a huge success.  Stayed tuned for information on the 2012 Forum.

Other events that we participate in and support:

Bucktown ArtsFest

Stop by the BCO booth to say hello, renew your membership, or purchase one of our signature BCO goat tees.  The Bucktown ArtsFest is the last weekend of August in Senior Citizens’ Park at 2200 N Oakley.  This is the longest free arts festival in Chicago.

Bucktown Apple Pie Contest

This is the premier homemade apple pie baking contest and a fundraiser for the Friends of Holstein Park.  It’s about the pie… and more.  The event is held every October at Holstein Park 2200 N Oakley.

Holiday Party

Our celebration of the year is frequently held the first week of December and give us all a chance to meet and talk with the people we pass on our streets regularly.  Featuring food, drinks, music and a silent auction of local business products and services this is a fun way to help us continue to fund activities and improvements in Bucktown.  In 2011 it was held on December 12th at Hot Chocolate!