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Chicago Tribune
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Mark your calendars now for Elgin-area fests, fireworks shows and other events set for this summer
This summer, the Elgin area is chock-full of annual festivals, parades and other events. Here's a rundown of things you can add to your calendar. June 1: Elgin Valley Fox Trot begins and ends just north of the Gail Borden Library at Grove Avenue and Kimball Street in downtown Elgin. The 10-mile run starts at 7:30 a.m. followed by a 5K starts at 7:40 a.m. Registration is $60 for the 10-mile and $45 for the 5K. A free post-race party, featuring music, food and beverages, is open to the public. June 6-8: St. Sophia Greek Fest, taking place on parish grounds at 525 Church Road in Elgin, celebrates Greek food, music and culture. Hours are noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. June 7: Elgin's family-friendly LGBTQ+ Pride Parade will step off from the South Riverside Drive parking lot at 11 a.m., and make its way to Festival Park, 132 S. Grove Ave. A related fest with music, vendors, food and beverages will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the park. June 7-8: Rails to Victory World War II reenactment rides be held at10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Saturday and 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m Sunday at the Fox Valley Trolley Museum, 365 S. LaFox St., South Elgin. Bob Marshall, a 100-year-old Marine veteran who served in World War II, will be the guest of honor from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $24. June 14: Flag Day will be celebrated with a 9 a.m. ceremony outside Carpentersville Village Hall, 1200 LW Besinger Drive. June 14: East Dundee will hold a Flag Day ceremony at 11 a.m. outside The Depot, 319 S. River St. June 14: Elgin's Flag Day ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m. in Veterans Memorial Park along the Fox River, north of the Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave. June 19: The Elgin Symphony Orchestra and local church choirs will present a Juneteenth concert at 6 p.m. Friday on the outdoor stage at the Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave. June 20: Prior to an after-dusk screening of 'Soul,' the School of Rock Elgin will perform in the Wing Park Bandshell, 1010 Wing St., Elgin. June 22: The Micheleros Festival will be held from noon to 11 p.m. in Festival Park, 132 S. Grove, Ave. Elgin. More than a dozen bands will perform, and food and drinks available, including the michelada, which is a Mexican-style Bloody Mary. Tickets are $30 and $40. June 27-28: Duke's Blues Fest will be held from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and noon to 11 p.m. Saturday in Carpenter Park, 275 Maple Ave., Carpentersville. Live blues music will be performed and barbecue and southern vendors onsite. June 28: Carpentersville's annual Independence Day parade through Old Town starts at 10 a.m. June 28: From 6 to 9 p.m., the Dundee Township Park District will be hosting a festival featuring food, vendors and entertainment in Meadowdale Park, LW Besinger Drive and Maple Avenue, Carpentersville. A fireworks display will be held at dusk. July 4: A Fourth of July pet parade starts at 8:30 a.m. Friday near the intersection of Douglas Avenue and Ann Street and ends at Douglas and Highland avenues, near Elgin City Hall. July 4: Elgin's annual downtown Independence Day Parade will start at 9 a.m. at the intersection of Douglas and Slade avenues and end about 11 a.m. at Douglas and Highland avenues. July 4: From 5 to 10 p.m. there will be music, vendors, food and beverages in Festival Park, 132 S. Grove Ave, culminating with a Fourth of July fireworks display. July 4: Sleepy Hollow is planning Fourth of July events from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Sabatino Park, 1 Thorobred Lane. July 6: Sleepy Hollow Service Club will present a fireworks show slated to start sometime after 9 p.m. at Sabatino Park, 1 Thorobred Lane. Parking in fields near the park will open at 7 p.m. costs $20 per vehicle. July 12: A free Classic Car Show will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the grounds of the Elgin History Museum, 360 Park St. Vehicle entry fee is $15. July 12: Blind Flights, a picnic-style outdoor craft beer tasting event hosted by the Carpentersville Rotary Club, will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. in Carpenter Park, 275 Maple Ave.. Tickets are $43.40. July 18: West Dundee River Challenge bike races and related events take place from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in and around Grafelman Park, 112 N. 5th St., and downtown outside VIllage Squire,125 Washington St. July 25: Dennis Jurs Memorial Elgin Classic bike race and related events will be held from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Elgin's northeast side, with a staging area at Cooper Avenue and Spring Street. Aug. 1: South Elgin will hold a combined Back to School and National Night Out event from 6 to 8 p.m. in Panton Mill Park, 9 N. Water St. Aug. 2: Side Street Studio Arts holds its second Area 22 Arts, Crafts and Oddities Fair from 1 to 7 p.m. along Riverside Drive in downtown Elgin. Aug. 9: Elgin's End of Summer Bash will be held from 4 to 9 p.m. in Festival Park, 132 S. Grove Ave. Aug. 30: Love on the Lawn music festival will be held in Festival Park, 132 S. Grove Ave. The event features music from deejays and food. Hours, schedule and admission rates not posted. Aug. 30-31: We In The Basement will present 'The Community Get Down Fest,' a free music and wellness event, from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday in Elgin's Wing Park, 1010 Wing St.
Chicago Tribune
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Elgin Valley Fox Trot bringing back cash prizes, introducing new routes
The 48th edition of the Elgin Valley Fox Trot set for June 1 will be a bit different from years past. Not only will cash prizes be offered again for the first time in several years, there will be new routes for the 5K and 10-mile races and the continuation of newer fun attractions, like face painting, organizers said. 'This race began before chip timing and GPS watches became standard so everything was done with stopwatches,' said Ed Bates, who has penned a new book, 'Running 10: The History of the Valley Fox Trot,' which he said is to be published by Aleo Publications later this year. Its long history is part of the appeal for some, only some of whom will remember back to the day when it stepped off with 10 people starting their stopwatches at the start off the race and and then spreading out to designated mile markers to call out split times. Bates, who has a doctorate in history from Northern Illinois University, said event founder Dr. David Bruce would run just behind the leaders to ensure everything was in place for the rest of the field. 'One of his friends even offered him fine champagne along the course,' Bates said. Bruce was an ER doctor at Sherman Hospital who ran the Chicago Marathon in 1976, an experience that inspired him to start the Fox Trot in Elgin in 1978. 'The running boom of the 1970s is often attributed to (American) Frank Shorter's victory in the 1972 Olympic marathon,' Bates said. 'The Fox Trot is part of that history and began at a time when very few local running events existed.' From 1978 through 1994, the Fox Trot was exclusively a 10-mile race. The first sponsor was Elgin Life Underwriters, and the city of Elgin managed the event from 1980 through 2019. From its start through 2012, the race was held on Memorial Day. The high cost of staging the race on a holiday Monday led to it being shifted over to the Saturday of the holiday weekend in 2013 and and later to a Sunday, Bates said. By 2019, race participation declined. The city was losing money on the event and officials decided to end its direct involvement, he said. 'The Kenyon Farm Runners, a local running group of which I am a member, took over the race in 2020,' Bates said. 'After hosting a 'virtual-only' race that first year due to COVID, the event has seen steady growth. We're hoping to get 1,200 runners this year.' This year's Fox Trot will have different routes than it did last year for its 10-mile and 5K races. According to the event website, both courses will still begin and end at the corner of Grove Avenue and Ann Street, just north of the Gail Borden Public Library. A downhill stretch of Grove Avenue for both races will enhance a sprint to the finish. And a short, steep climb up Cedar Avenue at just beyond the 8-mile mark will remind long-time Fox Trot runners of the old course up Duncan Avenue. To promote participation by young runners, the event has a $20 entry fee for anyone 19 or younger, which is less than half the rate for adults. There's also a trophy given to the school with the highest number of finishers, Bates said. 'Face painting, which is open to everyone on race day, has also helped attract young participants. It's a feature we noticed in other successful races,' he said. And as it has been doing for the last few years, race organizers will be offering free course preview runs Sunday, May 18, and Monday, May 26. Inspired by research showing the city of Elgin once offered cash prizes, new Fox Trot sponsor the Karas Restaurant Group will be doing the same for this year's events. Male and female winners of the 10-mile race will each receive $200, with second-place winners netting $100 and third-place $50. For the 5K, the prizes are $100, $50 and $25 for both men and women. Come race day, Bates will be part of a five-person team managing the event. For that reason, the avid runner hasn't been able to participate in the Fox Trot since the virtual event in 2020, he said. Bates took up serious running in 2004 after ending a 30-year career in retail managment. It was a sport he enjoyed in high school and did briefly during his business career, he said. 'I became a college history instructor and had more time to devote to running, having been only a mediocre golfer during my retail years,' he said. In those 21 years, Bates has run 78 marathons in all 50 states. 'I have run the Chicago Marathon for each of the past 17 years, and I have completed Boston twice, New York twice, London, Tokyo and Berlin, achieving all six world marathon majors,' he said. 'Now, at 76 years old, I continue to run Chicago every year along with many local half- marathons.' For more on the Elgin Valley Fox Trot, go to
