Volunteers make it happen

The volunteers at Buffalo Grove Days are nothing if not loyal.

Nearly the same group comes back year after year, many pulling their families into the event-planning.

"The chairperson got us involved, and we haven't looked back since," said Hal Norman, who, among other tasks, photographs the event, working alongside his wife.

"It's a great thing to do for the community," he said.

Paulette Greenberg and J.V. Springman co-chair the event and oversee a committee of about 40 who take up the majority of Buffalo Grove Days tasks.

"We've been working since January," Greenberg said. "It's a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff. When you see it that weekend, it's seamless; nobody knows the bumps behind the scenes."

The core group of 40, many who have lived in the Buffalo Grove community for years, head up the arts and crafts fair, the ticket booth, publicity and the audio and visual aspects of the long weekend.

Greenberg, who has been on the committee for 15 years and co-chair for the second year, said she's never had trouble finding volunteers, either before the event or during.

"A lot of them have their spouses help that weekend," she added.

Greenberg herself started volunteering as her daughter got older and was moving on to college.

"When I moved here she was in first grade, and that was the big thing in the fall, collecting candy at the Buffalo Grove Days parade," Greenberg said. "Now my granddaughter's one of those on the parade route collecting candy."

Debra Jess was pulled onto the committee because of the work her husband Ron had been doing for years.

Ron has had to back off from the committee in recent years, but he originally was involved 18 years ago when the chamber asked for volunteers at the beer tent. He continues to be one of the drivers of the disability cart, giving people rides, and pitches in where he can.

"It's a lot of fun and it's rewarding," Ron said. "I can't explain it other than it's very fulfilling for me to be involved in my community."

The Jess family has also gotten their daughter Penni, 24, involved. Mother and daughter co-chair the ticket committee and spend most of the weekend holed up in the ticket booth.

"It's fun and we have a good time just watching people," Debra said. "(The Buffalo Grove Days Committee) is the type of organization that once you've gotten there, you're there for a long time. It becomes a family type thing, like a family reunion every year."

Greenberg said it takes multiple man-hours each year to put on the event, starting with monthly meetings in January.

The group is all volunteers, and the event ends up mostly paying for itself with the revenue from carnival rides.

The Buffalo Grove Area Chamber of Commerce also does some fundraising throughout the year to make up the difference.

The committee has taken on some new initiatives since Buffalo Grove Days' inception to get more family members involved.

Greenberg said they started Buffalo Grove Juniors to get help from the children of committee members, who do smaller tasks for the event.

"I probably don't want to know the how many hours I put into this," Debra Jess said. "By the end of it, you're tired, but you're not tired in a bad way. You're just tired in a happy way."