100th year events start Saturday in Round Lake

Round Lake officials said they are excited to get their 100th anniversary celebration under way this Saturday with an ice-sculpting event outside of village hall.

Officials said they are planning special centennial celebration events every other month; most of the village's regular annual events will have 100th anniversary theme to them.

"For instance, we always have our Streets of Summer Celebration, but fireworks are being added this year in honor of the centennial," said Trustee Sherry Perkowitz. "Every event we do will have a little bit of history added to it in honor of the centennial."

She said the biggest event will be the Round Lake Founders Ball scheduled to take place on Sept. 6 at Maravella's Banquet Hall in Fox Lake.

The ball will be held in Fox Lake because Maravella's is the closest place large enough to host the event, she said.

"We are going out of our way to bring in a bigger pool of people this year to all the events and to reach as many as possible out there to be a part of it," she said.

Mayor Bill Gentes said he is looking forward to the centennial kickoff of Ice House Festival Saturday because the event so perfectly reflects the history of the village.

He said an early business in the village was cutting blocks of ice from Round Lake and shipping them to Chicago for refrigeration.

"So, having this Ice House Festival really pays tribute to that," he said.

The event, which runs from 1 to 4 p.m., will feature games for children, ice-sculpting demonstrations and free giveaways for village residents.

"When I was re-elected mayor this last time, I said the coolest thing was that I was going to be mayor during the village's centennial," Gentes said. "I'm really looking forward to this event."