Fox Lake fire district plans to revive carnival for its 100th birthday
Fox Lake fire officials are planning to celebrate their 100th anniversary by bringing back a festival that has long since disappeared.
Assistant Fire Chief Ed Lescher said the Fox Lake Fire Protection District will be hosting a four-day carnival, tentatively located at Veteran's Park behind Station Two on Washington Street.
He said the idea is to bring back a festival that was canceled over the years, and give more time for people to celebrate the centennial.
"The details aren't completely done yet, but it sounds like it should be a lot of fun," he said. "We really want to give people a great time, and a carnival could do that."
He said, according to tentative schedules, the carnival would start at 6 p.m. on July 17 and run through July 20 at 8 p.m.
He said July 17 would be family night, with games and prizes geared toward families.
On July 18, organizers would host a Fox Lake Idol contest, where future singers would come forward and try to impress the judges to win prizes.
He said firefighter water fights would take place on July 19 throughout the day, with the band Infinity coming in at 8 p.m. to entertain people.
Then, on Sunday, the popular men's and women's water fights would take place. Following that, kids would have their chance at manning the hoses as a new kids division would be unveiled at the popular event.
Lescher cautioned that all the ideas forming now are tentative and could be changed.
"Considering this is our 50th anniversary of the festival and 100th anniversary of the fire department, we really want to do something amazing," he said.
He also said there would be a fire-apparatus-only parade at some point during the event, and that historical information would be available at the volunteer fire house throughout the carnival.
"Like I said, we are working everything out right now," he said. "So, I'm not sure if we will shut down Washington for the four-day event or try to get it all in the park. These are things we are working through."