Party for 300,000

Good food. Great music. Seeing old friends. Having fun.

That's how Naperville's Last Fling got in Joe Lichter's blood and he's been coming for 22 years.

Lichter doesn't just attend the annual Labor Day Weekend bash. He's one of more than 1,000 volunteers who help put on the end-of-summer party that draws an estimated 300,000 over its four-day run.

"It's just a lot of fun," Lichter said. "If you're a volunteer, you get to be in the midst of it."

Lichter, a former Last Fling executive director, first got involved in 1985 after joining the Naperville Jaycees, which puts on the fest. Now officially a rooster, having aged out of the civic organization for do-gooders up to the age of 40, he runs the rooster beer tent.

It's a chance to reconnect with former and current Jaycees, Lichter said.

"There's a lot of camaraderie amongst the volunteers and Jaycees," Lichter said. "All the money that comes through the Last Fling and the Jaycees goes to local charities."

Then there's the chance to party, eat, laugh, go on carnival rides, participate in good-natured competition and listen to music.

Well-known for bringing in big-name entertainers, the Last Fling features headliners Colin Hay of Men at Work, BoDeans, Cheap Trick and Then Again on the Main Stage this year.

New special events include the Scottish Highland Games, Sing It at the Fling competition with a $1,000 prize, and a 50-50 raffle. The raffle tickets are $5, with 50 percent of proceeds split among three winners and 50 percent divided between the Naperville Jaycees and the Heritage Group YMCA's Strong Kids Campaign. The drawing will be Sept. 3 at Rotary Hill; winners need not be present.

"This is the first time we have had a raffle," said Marie deGroh, Last Fling executive director.

Returning favorites include the Fling Mile on Labor Day morning before the annual parade, the pie-eating contest, the four-legged follies, and the diaper derby, deGroh said.

"We encourage people to sign up for special events. We've got some great things for people to do," she said.

Of course, kids won't want to miss the carnival rides. Special entertainment and activities for children -- like Big Wheel races -- are slated for Saturday and Sunday at Jaycee Familyland, located just west of Centennial Beach.

Ongoing Familyland events for the younger set include a petting zoo, Moon Walk, obstacle course, crafts and straw hunt.

"The event itself is really a family event," Lichter said.