A crowd gathered during the annual Hodgkins Fest for the unveiling of Larry Rice Way on August 24.
Longtime Hodgkins Trustee Larry Rice passed away at the end of July, and Lyons Street in the village now bears his name in his honor.
“More than 100 people were there just for the street naming,” said Hodgkins Mayor Ernest Millsap.
“Larry’s wife Sandy, who was born in Hodgkins and is a lifelong resident, wasn’t able to be there, but we were able to Facetime her so she could see the gathering. Larry meant a lot to people in town.”
Millsap said Hodgkins Fest goes back 40 years as a much smaller event to give back to residents.
“It’s now much bigger. Originally it was just cookout. The village would partner up with the park district for about an hour. This year, we had hundreds come out with the concert at night being a huge draw.
“We have now named the lunch ‘Larry’s Lunch’, as Larry would cook the hot dogs as he spent years on the park district board. Kelly Young with the park district does a great job. We had a huge craft fair which was inside. It was nice for people to have a place to cool off on such a hot day.”
Besides the lunch and craft fair, there were inflatables for the kids, Touch-A-Truck for the kids, bingo, a band and fireworks.
