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• Stickney Water Reclamation Plant Tour

  • When
    10 Apr 2025
  •  
    10:00 AM - 12:30 PM
  • Location
    6001 West Pershing Road, Cicero, IL
  • Spaces left
    16

  Registration is closed

  
  

  Stickney Water Reclamation Plant Tour
  Thursday, April 10 from 10:00am-12:30pm
  6001 West Pershing Road, Cicero, IL

  Nearly 450 billion gallons of wastewater are treated annually by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's (MWRD's) seven facilities, and the Stickney Water Reclamation Plant is not only the biggest of them, it is one of the world's largest! On this exclusive CTPA tour, discover how the MWRD's one-of-a-kind water management system mitigates flooding and converts wastewater into valuable resources, like clean water, phosphorus, fertilizers, biosolids, and more. This tour is a great opportunity to better understand how the Chicago-area functions and how it is preparing for the future.

  
  

  Parking is available on-site and it is located near Pace buses. If you would like to car pool, please reach out to any of the other CTPA registrants or post on to the CTPA Facebook page. For those interested in joining, there is a CTPA lunch after the tour at the nearby Paisans Pizzeria (Berwyn) and register for that separate event here.

  
  

  Here are important details for the tour:

  • This special tour is limited to 30 participants. If you register for this event and can no longer attend, please cancel your own registration ASAP on either the CTPA website's calendar or the WildApricot app so that the next person on the waitlist can join.
  • Tour registration will initially only be available to CTPA members, but on March 1, registration will open so that members will be able to bring a non-CTPA guest if there is availability.
  • All tour participants need to complete the waiver form found here no later than March 27 which is also the last day to register. You will not be permitted to tour the facility without completing this in advance.
  • The tour starts promptly at 10:00 am, so please plan to arrive by 9:45 am for check-in. If you show up late, you may not be able to join the tour group.
  • You will need to bring the original copy of the ID used in the aforementioned waiver form to the facility upon check-in.

  I hope you can join for this really special CTPA event!

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• Lunch after the Stickney Water Reclamation Plant Tour

  • When
    10 Apr 2025
  •  
    12:45 PM
  • Location
    Paisans Pizzeria, 6226 West Ogden Avenue, Berwyn, IL

  Register

  
  

  Lunch after the Stickney Water Reclamation Plant Tour

  Paisans Pizzeria (Berwyn)

  Thursday, April 10 at 12:45pm

  6226 West Ogden Avenue, Berwyn, IL

  After our Stickney Water Reclamation Plant Tour (separate registration is needed for that program),  we can head to Paisans Pizzeria (Berwyn) just one mile away for lunch. It's right on Route 66 and is filled with associated decorations. This is also a great opportunity to socialize with your fellow CTPA members!

  
  

  Please register for this lunch if you plan on joining so that there is an accurate headcount. If you register for this event and can no longer attend, please cancel your own registration ASAP on either the CTPA website's calendar or the WildApricot app.

  
  

  If there is a low number of lunch registrations, we will be getting separate checks for everyone. If there is a high number, a group order for pizza, salad, and fountain drinks will be placed with a flat fee collected from each attendee in advance.

  
  

  I hope you can join this CTPA social event!

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• NFTGA Education Program on Cemeteries & Gravestones

  • When
    21 Apr 2025
  •  
    7:30 PM - 8:30 PM
  • Location
    Zoom (register to get the link)

  Register

  NFTGA Education Program on Cemeteries & Gravestones
  

  Monday, April 21

  Starting at 8:30 pm EST / 7:30 pm CST / 6:30 pm MST / 5:30 pm PST

  Register to get the Zoom instructions for this virtual event

  
  

  The NFTGA is hosting two experts discussing cemeteries and gravestones:

  

  • Dr. Joy M. Giguere is an associate professor of history at Penn State York where she teaches courses on American history, medical history, the history of technology, African American history, the Civil War era, and the history of death and mourning. She is the author of Pleasure Grounds of Death: The Rural Cemetery in Nineteenth Century America (University of Michigan Press, 2024) as well as articles in a variety of peer-reviewed journals. She is currently also the co-chair of the Pennsylvania AGS Chapter and the book review editor for Markers.

  

  • Dr. Perky Beisel is the current National President of the Association of Gravestone Studies and a professor of historic preservation and history at Stephen F. Austin University in Texas.

  This virtual meeting is open to all NFTGA member organizations, and if you are an officer for your local tour guide association, please forward the registration email invitation to all of your members. If you get an email about login information for the CTPA website, you can ignore it (unfortunately there is no way to disable these automatically generated messages).

  
  

  If you are unable to attend the live-stream, the recording will be available to watch for the following 30 days. If you have any feedback, including changing the contact information for future NFTGA Education Programs, please email Mike McMains (mike@tourswithmike.com) from the Chicago Tour Guide Professionals Association.

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• Pre-quarterly meeting informal gathering for foreign speaking guides

  • When
    21 May 2025
  •  
    4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
  • Location
    Hilton Chicago lobby (720 S Michigan Ave)

  Register

  Members Shirley Fastner and Leentje De Leeuw would like to invite all interested foreign speaking guides to meet at 4pm in the Hilton Chicago's main lobby by the fireplace, northend for an informal chat about the state of the business and comparing notes, ahead of the CTPA quarterly meeting at 5pm at The Revival.

  You can contact Shirley at shirleyfastner@hotmail.com for any additional information.

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• CTPA Quarterly Meeting at The Revival (In-Person)

  • When
    21 May 2025
  •  
    5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
  • Location
    The Revival (906 S Wabash Ave)

  Register

  
  

  CTPA Quarterly Meeting (In-Person)
  Wednesday, May 21 from 5:00-7:00pm
  The Revival (906 S Wabash Ave)

  Our 2nd quarter meeting is happening at one of Chicago's newest entertainment venues: The Revival! The event will take place in their improv theater space close to the one-year anniversary of moving into this Wabash Ave location (check out the Block Club Chicago feature). Here is the tentative agenda:

  • Mingling with refreshments.
  • An overview of The Revival and how your tour guests may be interested in the improv comedy events here, especially your student groups.
  • Dr. Greg Foster-Rice, Associate Professor at Columbia College Chicago, is also the co-lead of the Wabash Arts Corridor and is here to discuss the stories about this dynamic arts program and how you can integrate the wonderful murals into your tour experiences.
  • An organizational update from your CTPA officers.

  
  

  Parking is available at directly across the street in surface parking lots at the intersection of Wabash Ave and 9th St. We are also working on potentially making the presentation portion of the meeting available virtually.

  
  

  If you register for this event and can no longer attend, please cancel your own registration on either the CTPA website's calendar or the WildApricot app.

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