HUMBOLDT PARK — A picnic Saturday will bring the Humboldt Park Fishing Society together with the public to share stories, enjoy food and support the society’s mission to continually stock the Humboldt Park lagoon with fish.
The current 430 members of the society regularly share photos and fishing tips through its Facebook group, but few members have met in person, said Larry Green, founder of the society and Logan Square resident.
“We do try to raise funds through the picnic, but the major thing is people talking about fishing, sharing ideas and putting a face to the members they talk to in the group,” Green said. “Friends who are musicians come out and play, we have food, and it’s very laid-back.”
Attending the picnic is free and open to the public, and so is food, while it lasts. Another perk of the picnic, Green said, is a bartering table where people bring fishing equipment or bait they no longer want to use to sell, trade or give away.
Green, who started fishing in the park to keep his health and spirits up after a kidney transplant in 2011, has been casting his vision for catch-and-release urban fishing in Humboldt Park for three years. An artist by trade, Green designed a Humboldt Park Fishing Society T-shirt that will be sold for $20 each at the picnic.
All proceeds and donations go toward the society’s fall 2016 goal of $2,000, which would stock the lagoon with about 500 fish. Earlier this year, the society stocked the lagoon with 385 fish. In 2014, 185 fish were stocked.
“We’re growing,” Green said. “We’re in the infancy of this and so far it’s been a success.”
The picnic will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 11, in Humboldt Park near the walking bridge west of Humboldt Boulevard and east of Kedzie Avenue.
Donations to the society can be made at the picnic or on its GoFundMe Page.
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