2023 COS Fundraiser Recap

words by Katie Larson
photos by Nathan Goldberg

The beer was flowing and the band was jamming on Saturday, August 26 at the Chicago Ornithological Society’s 2023 Conservation Fundraiser at Metropolitan Brewing. It was COS’s first fundraiser since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the COS community was ready. Over 100 community members—from COS birders to LaBagh Woods moth trappers to plover watchers—came out to celebrate birds, each other, and the future of the 121-year-old conservation group. 

It was a perfect evening on the Chicago River, where the brewery is located, and not a few individuals brought binoculars to see what birds might be haunting the shoreline while they waited in line for brews. When not grabbing some of Chicago’s finest craft beer, attendees perused a wide array of silent auction items from COS Board Members, local artists, and even Wilco (yes, that Wilco). Highlights included a private tour of the International Crane Foundation by legendary founder George Archibald, a two-hour photo walk at Montrose Point with Matthew Dolkarat, a mountain biking skills class at Big Marsh let by Robert Ballantyne, a painting of a meadowlark by Laure Kaufman, and, of course, a variety of private birding walks in the Chicago area led by some of COS’s Board Members.

While it was hard for this writer to say what the high point of the evening was (She was strangely thrilled by the raffle at the end of the evening.), the revealing of the new COS logo was certainly one of the most anticipated moments. After COS President Edward Warden’s introductory remarks highlighting the work COS has done, the first new logo in over thirty years was revealed:

With some Chicago flair added by artist Alex Tomlinson, the American Woodcock remains the handsome standard for the Chicago Ornithological Society. (For more on the logo’s design, see this blog post with the details.) Hats and tote bags bearing the new logo immediately started circulating among the attendees.

After the logo reveal, Liquid Faction kept the jams coming, ending the night with a short encore, joyously singing with the crowd (and a few brave dancers) Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.” The winners of the silent auction were announced, and then the raffle, which, judging by the huge span of ticket numbers President Warden announced, was a huge fundraising success. 

But the evening was, as President Warden noted in his opening remarks, about community. The community of planters, harvesters, birders, citizen scientists, burn pit bosses, photographers, volunteers, Chicago-born or those adopted by its big shoulders—this was their night. And some were missing: Board Member Claire Halpin, who suddenly passed away on June 14, 2023 and was directly involved in the preparations for the fundraiser; and Vice President Stephanie Beilke, who was getting married at the exact same time we were connecting and reconnecting with each other. The people in the brewery, and those who were absent due to either grief or joy, were a reminder that community is a living thing. And in that room between Rockwell and the Chicago River, on that clear August night, we saw it thriving.