Stomach-churning fun at Last Fling

Excited screams rang out from the Last Fling carnival Friday night.

They were coming straight from Pharaoh's Fury where Blaine Carragher of Naperville and her friends were flying through the air on a ride they described as "freaky" while they held their stomachs afterward.

"That was pretty fun," said Carragher, 13. "This was by far the coolest ride."

Rides, games and musical performances brought families to downtown Naperville Friday for Last Fling, the Naperville Jaycees' four-day festival to bid farewell to summer.

Eight-year-old Logan Rayburn let out some excess energy on one of the new attractions this year -- the Gravity Storm -- which let him bounce around on a large trampoline while strapped into a harness. He jumped determinedly, nearly managing a back flip.

"It was good. I got to bounce really high," Rayburn said.

Some of the adults got in on the action too. Rick Diefenderfer of Naperville braved the Tilt-a-Whirl with his two children.

"If it's fast, if it's scary they love it," he said.

Suzanne DePierre's Whack-a-Mole skills won her a stuffed animal for her son Aidan, 4. Her strategy?

"Hit as many as you can and hit them the fastest," she said.

Meanwhile on Rotary Hill, concert goers got a blast from the past with performances by Off Broadway and Colin Hay of Men at Work.

Myrna and Bill Groves used to listen to Off Broadway when they were at the University of Illinois together in the early 1980s.

"It's fun. I feel like I'm in college," Myrna said laughing.

Marti and Ed Smith of Bolingbrook got to Rotary Hill an hour early to get a seat on the grass for Colin Hay. The two grew up in the 1980s so they said they relate to the music and it brings back old memories.

"It's feel-good music," Marti said. "It's interesting lyrics. Like everybody knows the line about Vegemite sandwich. Hello! What other song has that line in it?"

Cheap Trick and the BoDeans will also take the stage this weekend. Last Fling will also include a one-mile race, petting zoo and Labor Day parade. Organizers are expecting about 300,000 people over the four days.

Last Fling continues from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. today and Sunday and wraps up from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday in downtown Naperville. For more information, visit www.lastfling.org.