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Buffalo Grove Days is back
Andries van der Walt (right) and Benjamin Poble, of North American Midway, setup the Century Wheel Tuesday for the Buffalo Grove Days carnival this weekend. | Buzz Orr~Sun-Times Media
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
• The bean bag tournament will take place at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 30 in the beer garden. The cost is $10 per two-person team; single competitors will be paired with a teammate. Must be at least 21.
• The Community Blood Drive will run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 1 at the Alcott Center, 530 Bernard Drive. Donors will receive a T-shirt.
• The parade begins at 1 p.m. Sept. 2, beginning at the intersection of Bernard and Indian Hill drives. Volunteers will be pushing grocery carts to collect food for area pantries.
• The Rotary Club of Buffalo Grove will sponsor a Duck Race on Sept. 3 at the Buffalo Creek in Emmerich East Park. Participants can buy ducks at www.bgrotary.org/duckrace.html.
• The complete schedule of events is posted at www.BGDays.com/index.php/schedule-of-events.
Article Extras
Updated: August 30, 2012 7:22AM
BUFFALO GROVE — Many in Buffalo Grove wait all summer for this week: Buffalo Grove Days is back.
The community’s annual Labor Day festival, which began with the village’s incorporation in 1958, is expected to draw about 50,000 visitors between Aug. 30 and Sept. 3 to the intersection of Lake-Cook Road and Raupp Boulevard.
If all goes as planned — and the weather forecast appears clear — village officials project that the event should break even financially, even without the additional economic benefit to businesses outside the fairgrounds.
“It’s a great community event,” said Jane Olson, deputy village clerk. “It’s made for our community — it’s not trying to be the biggest, it’s just trying to be a festival. We try to get something for everybody.”
This year’s edition will feature the traditional carnival rides from North American Midway Entertainment. Other kid-oriented activities include clowns, stilt-walkers, balloon artists, and appearances by Chicago sports teams’ mascots and Austin Powers and Elvis Presley impersonators.
Additional activities include bean bag and frisbee golf tournaments, a blood drive, an arts and crafts fair, a dog show, a business summit, a barbecue cook off and a performance by the Barefoot Hawaiians dance group.
The annual parade and fireworks will return as well. So will the beer garden, operated as usual by the Buffalo Grove Area Chamber of Commerce.
Smoking will be permitted in designated areas, but at the Aug. 6 Village Board meeting, trustee Mike Terson encouraged a conversation about making future Buffalo Grove Days festivals smoke-free.
“It’s just a matter of time before this is the norm,” he said. “We can be a follower and wait for that to happen, or we can be an innovator.”
