French Connection Day celebrates Cantigny Park's namesake city

Wheaton's Cantigny Park's ties to a key World War I battle in Cantigny, France, will be celebrated this weekend when the park hosts French Connection Day.

French-themed festivities are planned from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14, including games, music, food, wine, crafts for sale and craft-making projects for festival attendees, said Magan Ascher, visitors services director.

The park's signature event will commence with a 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony presided over by Jean-Christophe Paris, deputy consul general from the French consulate in Chicago, who also will deliver opening remarks at 11:30 a.m.

Cantigny's association with France began after Col. Robert R. McCormick, who owned the property, returned from serving in the military in the French town of the same name. Then an Army Major, McCormick led a division of the U.S. Army's First Division into the small town north of Paris on May 28, 1918, to successfully fight the Germans.

“Cantigny used to be called Red Oak Farm. When he (McCormick) came back from the war, he renamed it,” Ascher said. The new name was an homage to McCormick's fellow servicemen and -women, she said.

When McCormick died in 1955, his 500-acre estate was turned into a park with formal gardens, a golf course and two museums. The First Division Museum houses a presentation of the history of the First Division and its role in military conflicts.

Ascher said more than 50 craft vendors will be at French Connection Day, most selling French-themed art work. There will also be several food vendors, including crepe chefs, she said.

“We do an open-air market,” she said.

For $3, attendees may become artistes with a painting project. Each participant will be given a tiny easel and canvas along with paint and brushes. Ascher said the finished, drying pieces have created an impressive tableau at past French Connection celebrations.

“We had a really cute display of everybody's art work,” she said. “It kind of sold itself.”

A 23-foot-tall replica of the Eiffel Tower will be stationed in front of the visitors center, where visitors can snap photos. Games of pétanque, a French yard game that involves rolling or throwing balls at a target, will be played.

There also will be inflatable rides for children, along with a story-time book reading, Ascher said.

Throughout the day, musical duo Traveler's Dream will perform folk music, a mime will stroll the grounds from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and a stilt walker will perform from noon to 3 p.m.

French wine will be featured at a wine tent open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Cantigny's casual dining restaurant, Le Jardin, will offer several special dishes.

Ascher said French Connection Day usually draws 4,000 to 5,000 visitors. Admission is free; parking is $10 per vehicle.

French Connection Day

<b>Where:</b> Cantigny Park, 1S151 Winfield Road, Wheaton

<b>When:</b> 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14

<b>Admission:</b> Free

<b>Parking:</b> $10 per vehicle

<b>Info:</b> (630) 668-5161 or <a href="http://www.cantigny.org">cantigny.org</a>