Naperville trolley is a family affair

In 1995, Don Wehrli embarked on a new venture when he began The Naperville Trolley & Tours Ltd. as the area's first trolley service.

Today, he and his daughter, Annette Wehrli Kennedy, manage the business.

This is a busy time of year for the company as it offers its Holiday Light Tours to show off some of the region's best light displays.

Q. When did you get the idea to start a trolley service in Naperville?

Don: I was in Seattle, went to Victoria Island and rode on a double-decker bus. I then made arrangements to buy a trolley in Florida and started the business in 1995. I got a lot of good ideas from the man that built trolleys.

Q. What part of the business does each of you handle?

Don: I look over the trolleys and, with the grandchildren, make sure they're cleaned up and ready for the drivers. I make sure the equipment is ready to go.

Annette: I handle all the reservations, booking new tours and the drivers. I also do the ads on the sides of the trolleys. We are a positive marketing source because everyone looks at a trolley.

Q. How large is your fleet, and how many people ride in a typical week?

Annette: We have two trolleys that hold 21 and two trolleys that hold 32 passengers.

There's no such thing as a typical week, but this week we will have our trolleys giving four tours each evening.

During the day, we are doing a free Naperville trolley shuttle this weekend from 12 to 5 p.m., circling downtown so you can have fun while shopping, a service brought to you by Ryan Hill Realty.

Don: A lot of corporations hire us to pick up their whole group, bring them downtown for lunch and then bring them back.

Q. Do you have a standard route?

Annette: The historic tour is somewhat standard, going through downtown Naperville and the North Central College, train, police, fire and Edward Hospital areas.

For the Holiday Light Tours, it depends on where we pick you up. A lot of times vehicles start to follow our trolley because they know we go where the lights are.

When we take our guests back to their house, it's funny when we will still have two or three cars behind us. It happens every night.

Q. Do you have entertainment on board?

Annette: We have piped in Christmas carols and songbooks on board that people will sometimes use.

Don: We have had church choirs on board that go to homes and serenade people that may be sick. It's fun to entertain people who can't get out of their homes.

Q. What was one of your most memorable events?

Don: I remember picking up 30 nuns in Techny to go to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. When we got to the gardens, the manager said they never had a trolley before, but he got on board and said, "Let's go." He narrated the tour all around the gardens. I enjoyed watching the good nuns enjoying their tour.

Q. Have you established traditions with the trolley?

Annette: Many families will hire us every year, and we've done all four kids' weddings in a family.

In our own family, our mom and dad had seven children, with 27 people in the immediate family. We have a tradition to celebrate our Christmas after Christmas because we are all so busy with the trolleys. We all join at 5 p.m., and then at 6 p.m. all 27 of us get on the trolley and ride over to Anderson's Bookshop, where we go into the store and pick out a book that grandma and grandpa buy for us.

Then we come home to a dinner the men cook.

Q. Has the trolley done anything that brought it notoriety?

Annette: It was featured on Home and Garden television. Christopher Radko has made a special Naperville Trolley ornament. People ask my dad to sign their ornament on the trolley and he is glad to do so.

Q. What is fun about riding on a trolley?

Don: Everyone waves when they see the trolley and little children pull their arms down telling me to ring the bell. When children get on board, I let them ring the bell. It's what they remember most. Trolleys make people happy, and that's why we're in business.

If you go

What: Naperville Trolley & Tours, Ltd.

When: 6:30 p.m. Dec. 26, Holiday Light Tour; 11 a.m. Dec. 28, Historic Naperville Tour; when scheduled tours fill, others will open, so call (630) 420-2223 for additional dates and times

Tickets: $10 all ages for light tour; $8 adults, $5 children for historic tour; rent trolley for $200 an hour on 21-passenger trolley; $250 for 32-passenger trolley

Details: (630) 420-2223 or www. napervilletrolley .com