Friends of Rock Island

In Wisconsin features Pottawatomie Lighthouse and Chester Thordarson

2010-02-19T17:29:00.005-06:00

Tim Sweet, FORI Board member and Past President, and Ranger Randy Holm star in episodes of recent In Wisconsin segments talking about the Pottawatomie Lighthouse and Chester Thordarson's contributions to Rock Island. Episodes aired February 11th through February 25th, 2010.

Episode 1: http://wpt2.org/NPA/IW815.cfm - See segment 3 about being a docent at the Lighthouse

Episode 2: http://wpt2.org/NPA/IW816.cfm - See segment 3 for a full tour of the Lighthouse

Episode 3: http://wpt2.org/npa/IW817thordarson.cfm - This segment includes some history of Rock Island and Chester Thordarson's contributions.

FORI in the News!

2009-10-03T21:58:00.006-05:00

Volunteers for the Friends of Rock Island are featured on the home page of the DNR's Friends of Wisconsin State Parks web site. The FORI Board are all volunteers, except for Park Rangers Kirby and Randy.

Presentation Equipment for the Boathouse

2009-10-03T21:19:00.004-05:00

The Friends of Rock Island secured a matching grant from the Wisconsin Friends of State Parks organization to fund a laptop, projector and projection screen for the park. It will primarily be used by the park naturalist for summer interpretive and nature education programs in the boathouse.

Also funded by the grant was a TV/VCR/DVD Player so that park information and videos about the flora and fauna of the park can be shared with boathouse visitors. It should afford park visitors who cannot make the trip to the Lighthouse or the water tower or the beach, the opportunity to see what the rest of Rock Island looks like.

Since the park was converted to solar power, the use of electronic equipment like this is now feasible in the boathouse.

Washington Island Fair 2009

2009-08-29T07:48:00.006-05:00

On Saturday, August 15th, the Friends of Rock Island participated in the Washington Island Fair with a booth at which we offered memberships and merchandise. Grace Ann Carpenter, Merchandise Co-Chair, reserved the spot for the booth and organized the offerings. Colleen Andrews, Secretary, contributed the sunshade and helped with the sales. Barry Carpenter and Rick Simmons assisted with setup and support. It was Rick's creativity that got the sunshade standing up! Barry's large mini-van served as the delivery vehicle for the volumes of shirts and sweats that made up the sale inventory.

Shannon Doherty, who designed the Sesquicentennial logo for the 2008 FORI T-shirt, stopped by the FORI booth. T-shirts and blinky pins with her design on them were on sale that day.

Camping in August

2009-08-28T00:14:00.004-05:00

We took the opportunity to spend a few days camping on Rock Island a week ago. We arrived on Washington Island just after the worst storm in recent memory had hit the area and knocked out their power and phones. We stayed on WI for 2 nights and then moved to Rock to spend 3 days camping at one of the last 2 sites available. The weather was gorgeous, as were the dips in the cool, clear lake. And, the flies and mosquitoes left us alone! We left on the day it was predicted to rain and storm again, but it remained clear and beautiful until we had had our farewell lunch and malt at the Albatross on WI and were well on our way home on the mainland.

It showed us once again why it is one of our favorite places in the world and just what a paradise it can be! What a vacation!

What's it all about?

2009-08-27T23:59:00.004-05:00

This blog is a place where people who love Rock Island State Park can share their most favorite experiences or other information that might be helpful to park visitors. The Friends of Rock Island, an organization that supports the park and manages the Lighthouse Museum, plans to use this blog to share information about our projects and activities. Be sure to check out our FORI web site in addition to reading this collection of thoughts.

Welcome!