Community Corner
Joe Kagann remembers the Humble Beginnings of the 4th of July Picnic
Volunteers are needed for the 2023 Independence Day Picnic. Please consider helping us bring back our annual Woodridge 4th of July Picnic.
The WSEC 4th of July Picnic was born on the 4th of July 1968 as part of the
State's Sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary. It featured Hot Dogs, Canfield's Soda,
and Beer, which if you can imagine that everything was FREE. Over the next
15-plus years, improvements were added such as live music and other small
attraction such as a dunk tank, ad-hoc pickup volleyball/softball games in
the clearings to the north of the pavilion, but still FREE Hot Dogs and
Beer. Starting in 1980, Beer was finally priced to be .25 cents with
everything else at .10 cents. I learned early on that I could manage the soda pop
concessions with my school friends, keeping the soda canisters iced and the
CO2 line charged. As the '80s gave way to the '90s one weird thing that
stands out from those years is the committee had grown to include many new
members, one of which wanted to try Turkey Hot Dogs for a year. Well, I can
say at the end of the day, the boiling kettle that the dogs were cooked in
smelled like Turkey soup but did not really taste good. As time progressed
so did the prices as toward the end of the '90s Beer was now $1.00 and most
other items were now .50 cents.
As the century turned over, I had taken over for my father to become the Chef for the day's events and rolled out a new menu item …. the grilled bratwurst to go along with now Hot Dogs, Chips, Popcorn, Ice Cream, Water, Soda and how could I forget Beer.
Wearing my US Calvary Stetson hat and a white apron I tended to the stove and grill cooking over 4000 Hot Dogs and 1800 Brats in a mere 4 hours. Well that all
went along smoothly until COVID came along and stopped all that fun in 2019.
Find out what's happening in Woodridgefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Well, I am very pleased, as I know Mayor Gina is to welcome back our residents to
the “4th of July Picnic in a 2023 Version”. We encourage all residents to show up
and join us for a great community event. The Woodridge Special Events Committee needs both volunteers and new members to continue providing this event for future generations. Please consider becoming an active member. Membership applications can be e-mailed to you – our email address is hmristic@comcast.net or you can call Marilyn Ristic at 630-963-1975 for further information on becoming a Volunteer.
