GroveFest Opens Tonight

With the inaugural event from last year under their belts and the support and enthusiasm of the community behind them, the Rotary Club of Downers Grove is ready to present a summer festival that is bigger and better.

Rotary GroveFest will be held in downtown Downers Grove on tonight through Sunday. “We are sure that this year, everybody is going to enjoy the event,” said Keith Hoffman, a Rotarian and a coordinator of the event.

The Rotary Club took the lead on the event after the Village of Downers Grove determined that it could no longer afford to sponsor the annual Heritage Fest.

“Our board of directors had a meeting, and we looked at this as an opportunity to do two things. One: to bring back the tradition to Downers Grove; and secondly, to financially support the Rotary Club, because we turn around and fund a lot of things in town. We wanted to make sure that we’d still have funds to give back to the community,” said Hoffman. “This is a community-minded event. We talked to our club and decided at that point to bring it back to Downers Grove.”

Last summer, festival coordinators were provided minimal space for the premier event. “The village asked us to keep it a smaller event. Initially, we had (planned for) space equivalent to Heritage Fest," Hoffman said. "We decided it was okay to bring it down to a smaller version. Based on that, we were successful. So we expanded it this year and brought back some of the things that had been successful in the past.”

The heart of the festival, as in years prior to 2010, will again be on Main Street. “Food vendors and the business expo will be from Curtis Street to the railroad tracks,” said Hoffman. Local food vendors will include Ballydoyle Irish Pub & Restaurant, Lemon Tree Grocer's Zest Café, and Jamba Juice.

Businesses with displays on site will include Ethnic Fusion, Foot Path Trading, Game Pazzo and Miche Bags. Not-for-profits with displays will include Diveheart, Downers Grove Township Republican Organization, Sharing Connections Furniture Bank and the Rotary Club of Downers Grove.

One of the highlights of the Heritage Fest was its large midway. This year, the rides at Rotary GroveFest, operated by North American Midway Entertainment, will be greatly expanded over last year.  “The larger rides will be on Warren Avenue north of the tracks from Washington to Forest,” said Hoffman. “We then took the kids’ rides and put them on the south side of the tracks on Burlington from Mochel Drive to Main Street. So that portion is basically in front of the train station.”

Back by popular demand will be the craft show, set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. “We’ve asked the Downers Grove Junior Women’s Club to run that for us. They’ve done such a successful job in the past,” Hoffman said.  The traditional car show will be held on Sunday.

Hoffman said coordinators have lined up some great entertainment, most of which is local or regional in order to minimize expenses. The Judges’ Night Band is a rock band of judges, clerks and attorneys.  Hurricane Gumbo is an “eight piece Louisiana party band,” Hoffman said.

Downers Grove’s own alternative classic rock band Hindsight will perform on Saturday, followed by Dave Specter Blues Band with special guest Mark Wydra.  “These are musicians that will be playing at the Chicago Blues Fest on the main stage. They’re one of the best blues bands,” Hoffman said. Piano Men, a tribute band to Billy Joel and Elton John plays Sunday afternoon. Elevation, a U2 tribute band will close the festival on Sunday night.

While the festival is intended to be a community event, coordinators have gone outside of Downers Grove to promote Rotary GroveFest“now that our space is bigger," Hoffman said. "We’ve put a lot of emphasis on some of the advertising outside of Downers Grove. We’re sure it’s going to be more than just Downers Grove residents.”

The event would not be possible without the assistance of a veritable army of more than 300 volunteers. “Our club has only 44 members. We have planned, implemented, and spent thousands of hours and it’s really been a club effort to do. We couldn’t do this without our volunteers,” Hoffman said.

The Rotary Club has stepped up to the plate in a very big way, to serve its community. “We’re spending a lot of time and effort to promote and offer this event so what we can bring back a tradition to the community,” Hoffman said. “The village used to do this on a year-round basis and they were salaried. We’re all volunteers. Between working with the village, getting volunteers together, coordinating the vendors, advertising, soliciting sponsors, it’s been a long, hard trail but we’ve done a really good job.”

“We don’t have a lot of fundraisers but we make a lot of donations annually,” he said. In addition to awarding $14,000 in academic scholarships, the Downers Grove Rotary supports local requests, sponsors a number of events, and donates to internationally projects. “Between our support to the community and internationally, we need to raise funds," Hoffman said. "This is our biggest fundraiser”

GroveFest sponsors include Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, BankFinancial, Euclid Beverage, Windy City Event Services, North American Midway Entertainment, Community Bank of Downers Grove, NEUCO Inc., Zeigler of Downer Grove, Downers Grove FOP Lodge 73, KS Mathis Jewelers, Midwestern University, Lee Concessions, and Stephens Plumbing and Heating Inc. For further information and a complete schedule, visit www.rotarygrovefest.com.