25K daffodils expected to bloom in St. Charles this year

Since 2020, volunteers with The River Corridor Foundation have planted more than 25,000 bulbs in Mt. St. Mary Park in St. Charles and will celebrate the fruits of their labor on April 23.

RCF and the park district will celebrate five years and 25,000 blooms on April 23, when they will meet in the park to witness the spectacle and hold an award ceremony.

For the past five years, more than 5,000 daffodil and over 150 Virginia bluebell bulbs have been planted in the park each year as part of Project Daffodil, organized by the River Corridor Foundation and the St. Charles Park District.

Both flowers multiply on their own during their dormant winter months, and the expanded array blossoms as the snow melts each spring.

The Golden Turtle award ceremony will begin at 4:30 p.m. under the park pavilion, where RCF will present the 2024 Golden Turtle Awards to RCF members Dr. Al Patten and Maurine Patten and to the St. Charles Public Works Department. Light refreshments will be served.

Patten, a long-time supporter and member of RCF, created the Golden Turtle award in 2011 to recognize and celebrate those who best represent the values of the River Corridor Foundation.

“[Patten] has always led the efforts to identify the individual and or group whose efforts were deserving of the annual Golden Turtle award,” RCF president Laurel Moad in a news release. “It is our honor to recognize Al and Maurine with that very award!”

The St. Charles Public Works department has been a consistent collaborating partner with RCF, supporting a wide range of events and initiatives like the Legacy Bricks on the Bob Leonard walkway, Project Daffodils and many others.

The celebration will continue at Alter Brewing after the festivities in the park, where the brewery will donate $1 to the River Corridor Foundation for every adult beverage sold.