Sponsored by Lake County Audubon Society, Ralph Frese will give a presentation on the Des Plaines River Watershed that starts in Wisconsin and joins with the Illinois River near Kankakee. His multi media show will include the natural and human histories of the area.
Among his many accomplishments is founding the annual DesPlaines River Canoe Marathon, which has become a popular annual event for canoeists. In addition he organized the three hundredth anniversary reenactment of the Jolliet-Marquette expedition of 1673. A fourth-generation blacksmith, Ralph began building canoes in his blacksmith shop for his scout troop. This was the beginning of the Chicagoland Canoe Base, now known nationwide as the most unusual canoe shop in the U.S.A. receiving visitors from around the world. Ralph gives illustrated lectures on the role of the canoe in Illinois history, on the water trails of the Midwest and the environmental state of these waterways.
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He has been the recipient of many federal, state and local awards and a National Award-Legends of Paddling. He was inducted into the Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame in 2006.
