Spencer Meyers discovered Shabbona Lake State Park not long after he moved to DeKalb in 1997, and started fishing, camping and fishing there.

During his visits to the park, he noticed a few things that needed fixing: the parking lot needed to be re-striped, the bathrooms needed painting and the boat launch ramp needed to be fixed.

Meyers became a founding member of the Friends of the Shabbona Lake State Park in 2015 as a way to support and preserve the park.

“So many people visit and use the park, we wanted to fix, repair and add things on,” he said. “It’s important to have the group because we’ve helped with maintenance. We’ve brought new features that the park would never have otherwise. We want the park to remain in great shape and to make it the best experience that we can.”

The Friends’ first main project was to fix a small 5-acre fish rearing pond that was built in the early 1990s on the far north end of the lake.

Through the years, the pond became clogged with river sediment blocking water flow into the lake. Because of the cost of the repair, the rearing pond ceased operation in 2014.

In 2016, with the help of a $12,000 grant from the DeKalb County Community Foundation and another $5,000 in fundraising, the Friends began repairs to the rearing pond.

Repairing the fish rearing pond was the first of many park projects.

The group also has repaired the boat launch, added boat dock cleats, stocked the lake with fish, repaired the kids fishing pond, upgraded, replaced and repaired playground equipment, installed bicycle racks and new barbecue grills, removed ash trees and planted replacement trees, added two new entrance signs and painted shower and restroom buildings.

In 2017, the Friends helped repair a spillway barrier fence. The fence was placed 200 yards downstream to allow the water to go through, but after heavy rainfall elevated the water level on the lake, large fish become caught in the shallow creek. The Friends periodically release the captured fish back into Shabbona Lake.

Also in 2017, the Shabbona Lake Sportsman Club, with help from members of the Friends and a Illinois Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist, constructed five new fish cribs. The cribs, also called fish houses, provide a place where smaller fish can escape from larger fish.

Rich McElligott, president of the Shabbona Lake Sportsman Club and a member of the Friends, said having groups work together on projects makes tasks easier.

“If you’re involved with a group or organization at the park, you care and want to help,” McElligott said. “The Friends exist because we’re there to support the park. We work together because we all have the same goal of helping the lake and park succeed.”

The Friends of Shabbona Lake State Park group continues to maintain the park’s trails, bridges, flower beds, outdoor lights, memorial benches, parking lots and entrance sign.

Future Friends’ projects include creating a mobile app of the park’s trails and adding two shelter pavilions with electricity at the youth group camping area. The pavilions will cost an estimated $40,000 to $50,000 and the Friends are writing grants to cover the cost.

Meyers said that even though the park was created for fishing, it has evolved into so much more, and the Friends hope to continue making the park successful.

“Now the park isn’t just for fishing,” he said. “We have trails and camping. We have hikers and bicyclists and birdwatchers. About 500,000 people come to the park each year. We want to keep the park clean, interesting and fun so that people keep coming and they keep coming back.”