Grant Park’s Fall Fest, which was held September 5 – 7, was a success, with great weather and plenty of activities.
Some highlights from the weekend festival included a lighted evening parade, a chili cookoff, a movie outside, raffles, bike rides, a petting zoo, a euchre tournament, line dancing, big wheel races, and a burnout contest.
Trustee Steve Brower took a moment to thank all the volunteers and sponsors and listed each sponsor from the event.
“And as I read all of these lists, I’d like to make a point that Carol Larson was a key person in this whole committee,” Brower said before presenting her with an outstanding volunteer award.
“You know I’m not one for tooting my horn,” Larson said before accepting the award.
Volunteerism is at the heart of the festival, with many people from the community coming together to make it happen.
“We have quite a few people who jump in to pitch a hand as needed. However, we do need more volunteers. The younger the better, to continue our fest and more future events,” Brower said.
“All in all it was a perfect weather weekend, with so many activities for all ages,” Brower later added.
Village President Ben Detloff stated the car show was well-attended, and it seemed like everyone had a good time.
“I would like to thank our community outreach chairman, Steve Brower, for all the months of meetings and work he put in to make this fest happen. Everybody enjoys it, but they don’t realize all the work it takes to make this happen and get people on board,” Detloff added.
Detloff also thanked the police chief for taking care of the parade for more than a decade, the volunteers, as well as several other people, acknowledging it was a lot of work from a lot of people.
Village Halloween Event Canceled Due to Lack of Volunteers
Although Fall Fest was a success, Brower advised the board there would not be a Halloween at the Park event this year because of the lack of volunteers. He suggested the budget for that event be given to the First United Methodist Church for hot dogs and tacos at the Halloween event they are hosting. Funds would come out of the fest account.
Trustee Morgan Whorrall inquired if Brower put anything out for volunteers, to which he replied that they did. He said the committee voted not to do the Halloween event for that reason, and the announcement was made earlier in the year.
There was some debate about how long Halloween at the Park had gone on, with Trustee Susie Wiedl explaining she started it back in 2018. She added they didn’t see anything posted on Facebook about the event. Wiedl was the lone vote in opposition to allowing the church to receive the funds, which was ultimately approved.
Project Progress
Morgan also reviewed an update to the TIF agreement with Andrea Hendricks; essentially, they are simply changing the signatories on checks to require both Hendricks and the bank to sign.
Detloff advised the improvements at Hilgert Park are progressing at a good pace. The improvements are visible, with the parking lot and pickleball courts dug to subgrade, and fencing and trees removed.
“The upgrade is going to be a big deal once this park is complete. It’s going to be an ADA-compliant park. I hope it’s enjoyed by the whole community,” Detloff added.
Detloff also advised the board that an additional new sign will be erected upon completion of the park, though the original sign still will be in place, as well as the train.
“I think we’re going to be on track to be 3/4 done before winter gets here and the rest of the work finished in the spring,” Detloff said. He added Engineer Neil Piggush did save the village some funds after he found an $8,000 expense was unnecessary.
Regular Business and Other News
The board approved minutes from the last board meeting and bills to be paid after Whorrall inquired about two employee payments that seemed off, as they were listed as working 160 hours each. This was determined to be an error.
Wiedl inquired about the $2,425 line item for the chili cookoff, which Trustee Gerry Morgan explained was an issue with how accounting itemizes expenses, where it won’t list each item but grabs the first line item. He explained the line item was for everything: the bar, prizes, and not just the chili.
“Those are good questions,” Morgan stated after explaining the issues and asking if there were other questions.
Detloff also passed along a letter of gratitude from the Historical Society for helping to keep the history of the village alive.
In other news, a blood drive will be held on October 1. Netflix also will be in town filming, though it is anticipated not to be disruptive. No actors will be in town.
Detloff also advised that anyone looking for village codes and ordinances can find them through the American Legal Publishing website, which publishes the codes online.
In other news, the village waived a first reading and declared items from the Pepin property, which is under contract, as surplus so they could be sold. There also will be a donation of a 19th Century toy baby buggy to the historical society.
Leaf pickup will begin on October 13, with the last day for brush pickup scheduled for October 6. The village made a special request that residents living on IL-1 put their leaves in the alley and not on the highway.
Police Chief Carl Frey informed the board they had completed safety lockdown drills at the schools, which were a success. He advised that the county is basing its drills on what they are doing in Grant Park.
“We did that drill. It went great. We had an emergency team meeting this morning, and they reiterated everything went really well,” Frey said.
“The reason we did it at the elementary school was that they had some recent renovations, and they moved the radio. So, Andy Dillman asked me, ‘Hey, if we do it, can we do a test of that radio to make sure it works?’ So, it rolled into this huge thing for the county, which they said was very, very successful on their end,” Frey added.
He also told the board he received letters from all the students in the schools, which showed their appreciation.
On a somber note, Detloff offered Clerk Scott Dillman his condolences after hearing the news of the death of his mother and presented him with a card on behalf of the village.
Stephanie Irvine is a freelance reporter.