Carnival rides, livestock judging and tractor pulls? It must be Elburn Days
The village of Elburn and the local Lions Club are combining their small town charm and tight-knit community to welcome thousands of visitors to the 86th annual Elburn Days festival.
The theme this year is "working with you to make the community better."
"There are hundreds of people volunteering time over the weekend and for the last couple of months," said Bob Thomas, chairman of the Elburn Lions Club. "It's going to be a great time thanks to volunteers giving their time to make this a fun community event."
One way the community is giving back is by providing a new recycling service through volunteers from the Elburn Hill Church.
Other than that, organizers have kept the same approach to providing a small town summer festival.
"The great thing is, Elburn Days has been going on so many years that we usually have the same group of people doing the same job year after year after year," Thomas said. "The people who run those different events have done it for so long, I've just got to keep things flowing."
Organizers estimate 5,000 to 7,000 out-of-towners will visit Elburn during the festival. That is a dramatic increase compared to the 5,600 residents, according to the 2010 census.
Mike Stoffa, former mayor of Elburn and chairman of the Elburn Lions Club, continues to volunteer with the festival. This year, he is co-chairman of the Elburn Days Parade.
"It's amazing how many people come out to Elburn Days because it's safe," Stoffa said. "It's just an all-around good small town event. People just enjoy coming out to the park."
Part of the reason the Lions Club is so near to his heart is the research the club supports.
The organization donates to a number of vision-related foundations including Lions Recycle for Sight and Lions Ski for Sight, and provides mobile vision screenings.
In 2011, Stoffa's wife Shirley, died of ocular melanoma.
"People need to understand the benefits of routine eye checks, full eye checkups not just vision screenings," Stoffa said. "Elburn Days is a great process for the Lions Club to continue donating thousands of dollars toward eye care and research."
Some funds will also go toward providing Seeing Eye dogs to the visually impaired. Those dogs can cost upward of $20,000, Stoffa said.
One of the club's largest fundraisers is the annual car raffle. Each year Bob Jass Chevrolet provides one vehicle to raffle. The winner has a choice of four cars or $30,000 in cash.
"Sometimes the car stays in Elburn, sometimes it goes to Florida," Stoffa said. "We have had cars travel all over the U.S. A raffle ticket for a car at $20 - it just sells fast. People find it very reasonable."
The festival also features carnival rides, live music, 4-H livestock judging, a pie-baking contest, truck and tractor pull, mud volleyball, bingo, a 5K run and one-mile fun walk, a craft show, and radio controlled truck racing,
Admission to Elburn Days is free, and the festival runs Friday through Sunday, Aug. 21-23. For information, visit www.elburnlions.com.
If you go
What: Elburn Days festival
When: 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23
Where: Elburn Lions Park, 500 S. Filmore St., Elburn.
Admission: Free
Details: <a href="http://www.elburnlions.com">www.elburnlions.com</a>