DAVENPORT, IOWA (April 13, 2026) — Join River Action for the 24th Annual Fish and Fire as citizens, artists, policy makers, corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, elected officials, and philanthropists from all walks of life gather to celebrate the Mississippi River and the good work being done to make it and the communities along it more resilient.
The celebration is being held at the Waterfront Convention Center, Bettendorf. Activities include social hour, silent auction, plated dinner and dessert, presentation of Eddy Awards, live auction, and fund the cause.
- 5PM — Social Hour and Silent Auction: Browse the auction items during social hour.
- 6:30PM — Plated Dinner and Dessert: Catfish, Chicken, Vegetarian options available.
- 17th Annual Eddy Awards — These awards recognize individuals and organizations that have gone against the current to get things done and accomplished outstanding riverfront activity or development — well-designed and environmentally responsible.
- Awards are presented in six categories: Art, Design, Education, Restoration, River Activity, and Lifetime Achievement.
- Live Auction and Fund a Cause, Decker Ploehn, City Administrator, City of Bettendorf, Emcee.
- Fish and Fire Tickets are $65, $55 Members, $450 Table of eight. Reservations are required. Buy online at riveraction.org/fishandfire or at River Action, 822 E River Drive, Davenport, Iowa 52803. Questions, 563-322-2969.
2026 Eddy Awards
Art: Melissa Mohr, Figge Art Museum, will receive the Art award for Evanescent Field, aa $4 million public art installation that has transformed the downtown and riverfront with everchanging color designs. The museum gave the artist a glass box; he found a Michaelangelo in it!
Design: The City of Moline will receive the Design Award for its riverfront plan that replicates natural processes — when possible allowing nature’s wisdom to bestow a higher purpose on design. After receiving a Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines designation last year, the city recently received approval of its River Edge Redevelopment Zone application. The Riverfront+Centre Plan promotes community access, sustainability, economic development, and resilience.
Education: The Education Award goes to The Upper Mississippi River Center. Under the direction of Dr Michael Reisner, Augustana College, the Center has done extraordinary work since its creation in 2012. Dr Reisner knows how to identify potential, a skill he has used to build the Center and enter into partnerships with the City of Davenport, City of Rock Island, Rock Island County Forest Preserve, and most recently with the Milan Bottoms Task Force to assess riparian zones and water quality on 600 acres there.
Restoration: The award goes to Jack Cullen, Executive Director of the Rock Island Downtown Alliance, who has proven to be the ideal leader in this pivotal moment of making so many investments in public services and public spaces in Downtown Rock Island. With a high degree of understanding of culture and business all at the same time, he has overseen everything from pocket parks to wide-spread streetscaping.
River Activity: The award goes to Colonel Joe Park, Garrison, Rock Island Arsenal, who saw opportunities for the Island when he arrived a little over one year ago. Since that time, he has overseen adding a new bike trail, reopened the golf course and a new golf clubhouse, made museum improvements, Quarters One renovations, and laid out plans for a water taxi dock near Quarters One.
River Activity: Awards go to LeClaire and Port Byron, organizers of Tug Fest. This longstanding event in both communities exemplifies, in the most fun way, what “Joined by a River” can mean. With such infectious spirit in each community for Tug Fest, they excel at collaboration and end up pulling for each other!
Lifetime Achievement: The award will go to two powerful advocates for bikeable communities, Dean and Deb Mathias. They embody the spirit of service which our country urgently needs. With the goal to create bikeable cities, they work on bike events, blazing the Rock River and Hennepin Canal trails, advocating at DOT meetings for bike lanes on bridges, and setting up a foundation to advance bike trails. Their unstoppable nature is a coordinated strategy we would all be wise to follow.
Please plan to attend the awards ceremony and celebrate with the awardees at River Action’s Fish and Fire, April 30, at the Waterfront Convention Center, Bettendorf.
Go to riveraction.org/fishandfire to buy tickets.
