Hundreds line up to see Cubs World Series trophy in Schaumburg
More than 1,000 eager Cubs fans got their picture taken with the team's first World Series trophy Monday night when it was on display at the Prairie Center for the Arts in Schaumburg.
No fan waited longer than Paul Kobos, a 46-year-old man from Streamwood, who showed up at 7:45 a.m. Kobos said he had showed up too late to see it at the Naperville Municipal Center when the trophy was on display there Saturday.
“I wasn't going to miss it this time,” Kobos said.
According to organizers, Kobos was one of 5 or 6 people who showed up around 8 a.m. The crowd grew to more than 100 people by 1 p.m., and at around 2 p.m. organizers began letting Cubs fans sit in seats in the Prairie Center's 442-seat auditorium so they could get out of the cold. Two hours later, the auditorium was filled.
Kobos said the people in line passed the time chatting and sharing their memories of the Cubs best season of their lives. With their heavy coats off in the warm auditorium, the crowd made for a sea of blue Cubs gear, peppered with the dark World Series branded hats.
At around 4:30 p.m. the crowd in the auditorium began to line up to see the trophy, Meanwhile, outside where it had begun to lightly snow, the crowd continued to grow. Allison Albrecht, the village's communications manager, said they estimate around 1,100 fans were able to get their picture with the trophy, and that they had to turn away around 300 people. The event was scheduled to run from 5 to 7 p.m. Albrecht said sometime after 7 p.m., the Cubs officials decided to let the hundreds of fans still in the building go ahead and get their pictures, but that they would have to ask those outside to leave.
“We certainly had some disappointed fans, but the fact they're still going now speaks well that they wanted to accommodate as many fans as they could,” Albrecht said around 7:30 p.m.
For many, waiting in line was a family affair. Jan LeFeber, 76, came along with her daughter Jacqui Schuster and her 10-year-old grandson Joshua Schuster.
LeFeber said she has been a Cubs fan for 68 years and brought her children to games at Wrigley Field from their home in Des Plaines as often as they could. LeFeber, who now lives with her daughter in Elk Grove Village, said she was grateful she got the chance to see them win it all.
“She never gave up hope,” Jacqui Schuster said.
Mayor Al Larson, a passionate Cubs fan who predicted the team's World Series victory in his annual “Look Ahead” letter published in the Daily Herald a year ago, was on hand for the celebration.
“This was my vision,” Larson joked.
The trophy will be making other public appearances as part of a Midwest tour sponsored by State Farm. The trophy was first awarded in 1967. Its next stop will be Friday through Sunday at the Cubs Convention at the Sheraton Grand Chicago, where it is scheduled to be on display each day.
For more information on the trophy tour, visit cubs.com/trophytour.