Elk Grove Village, park district share birthday bash

For a kid, there might not be many things worse than having to share your birthday party with someone else. Especially if that someone else is a younger brother or sister.

But at 60 years old this year, Elk Grove Village is no longer a kid, and the village was happy Sunday to share its birthday celebration with its community sibling, the now 50-year-old Elk Grove Park District.

The two jointly celebrated their anniversaries with Play, Picnic & Party, a family-friendly festival held at the Village Green and neighboring park district Pavilion.

The event featured a touch-a-truck, a giant inflatable slide, old-fashioned picnic games, balloon animals and a performance by The Hat Guys.

"It's pretty neat. We just moved here from Boston a couple months ago. It's interesting that the town is only 60 years old," said Evan Nolan of Elk Grove Village, who played a life-size game of Tetris with his wife Valerie, 4-year-old daughter Annie, and 18-month-old son Teddy. "There are a lot of things here that you find that you can't find on the East Coast."

The party ended with a performance by the former chart-topping rock band Foreigner.