AVONDALE -- A harvest moon walk Sunday aims to highlight the Avondale riverfront's overlooked history and bring together neighbors.
The Avondale Gardening Alliace's walk and tour will celebrate the harvest moon -- also called the corn moon -- and educate neighbors on the waterfront's history amid its increased popularity and development, said local historian Dan Pogorzelski, a member of the Northwest Chicago Historical Society. Pogorzelski will lead the tour.
"As a city of industry, before there were rails, it was water. That was the transportation network and a vital link between the nation, connecting the Great Lakes Basin all the way to the Gulf of Mexico in New Orleans," Pogorzelski said. "It played such a pivotal role -- but what made it so attractive to industry kept residents away."
The free walk will begin 7 p.m. Sunday at Burning Bush Brewery, 4014 N. Rockwell St., and organizers ask that those interested RSVP on Facebook for a headcount. The walk should last 70-90 minutes, but participants can leave whenever they want, organizers said.
The area near the riverfront and Belmont Avenue was home to the Henry C. Grebe & Co. Inc. Shipyard, which moved to 3250 N. Washtenaw Ave. in 1926.
The company built sail yachts and powerboats for exclusive clientele before World War II. After the war started, Grebe built over 56 wood and steel vessels for the Navy, per the Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal.
"That they built minesweepers that later went all over the world to serve the United States, and they were built here in Chicago. ... It's a wonderful legacy, but it goes to show you how people were not thinking of the riverfront as a tourist attraction -- and that is before you weigh in that it was polluted, and before the deep tunnel," Pogorzelski said.
As the city makes efforts to clean up waterways and make the riverfront more appealing, the tour can remind people about the riverfront's potential and history, Pogorzelski said.
"My hope is that Avondale keeps alive its industrial and working-class history as wealthier folks have discovered the appeal of our community," he said. "We want to keep what makes Avondale magical, alive."
Bringing Pogorzelski on board for the September walk was Christina Schleich's idea. As the cofounder and lead organizer of the Avondale Gardening Alliance, she said the goal of the walks is to expand community connections through nature and the area's third spaces.
"Urban agriculture is our north star, and community building is our close second," Schleich said. "We want to be of service in different ways and meet people where they're at ... so they feel engaged with their community."
The partnership felt like a great way to celebrate the neighborhood's only riverfront access and offer a casual activity that doesn't require spending money, Schleich said.
"The river is our eastern border, but we really try to tell our community how lucky we are to have it in Avondale," she said. "It's a migratory path for a diverse ecosystem. Dan will be taking us down the river [past] Belmont, which is currently the only un-monetized access to the river."
Organizers said that they hope to partner on more historical full moon walks to highlight other parts of Avondale.
The gardening alliance hosts several weekly events that cater to different interests and group sizes, Schleich said. The group is also planning for its October full moon walk, which will include identifying oak trees in Avondale and their ecosystem benefits. Event updates will be shared to the group's online calendar and social media.