Lions back for 70th July 4th fest
For the 70th consecutive year, the Mount Prospect Lions Club will put on a festival to entertain the town over the July 4th holiday and raise money for local causes. The five-day event opens at 6 p.m., today at Melas Park at Central and Busse Roads and runs through Sunday.
Two fireworks shows are planned. Friedrichs Funeral Home will sponsor tonight's show at dusk and then the village and the Lions will team up to sponsor the bigger July 4 show.
Thirteen bands will perform on the music stage including oldies rock played by Ronnie Rice and classic rock by Arra tonight; party music with a wedding flair by Wedding Banned on Thursday; Glam Rock by all-girl band Rocket, which was a finalist on Fox's "The Next Great American Band," and '50s to '80s rock played by The Fairlanes on Friday; U2 hits by Elevation on Saturday; and music by former UFO guitarist Paul Chapman on Sunday.
The food tent will feature offerings from seven restaurants. And, of course, the beer booth will be serving throughout the five days.
Special events range from the annual Pancake Breakfast and Bake Sale from 7 to 11 a.m. Friday to the Lions Paw Charity Car & Motorcycle Show from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday and "Family Day" on Sunday, sponsored by Safari Childcare, with crafts and games for children from 1 to 5 p.m.
The Lions are taking a lesson from Photo's Hot Dogs. For one hour on Sunday they are offering select food and drink items for 70 cents to honor the 70th anniversary of the fair.
"In honor of the Mount Prospect Lions Club's 70th year of putting on the Village Fair, we decided to celebrate by offering select food and drink items for 70 cents from 4 to 5 p.m. on July 6," said Mount Prospect Lions Club Fair Chairman Jeff Hady. "During that hour, participating restaurants in the food tent will price an item from their menu at 70 cents; a bottle of ice-cold water will be 70 cents, as will an ear of fresh sweet corn."
Call the hotline at (847) 870-6622 or log onto www.mountprospect.org.
St. Raymond 50th reunion: Members of St. Raymond's Catholic School's classes of 1957 and 1958 are planning a 50th reunion for September and they are looking for classmates. If you or someone you know was a member of one of these classes, Cathie Leider, Mary Hagan Wajer, George Sullivan and Wayne Palach would like to hear from you.
Girls who married and changed their names are particularly difficult to locate, according to Wajer.
If you are interested in the reunion, phone Wajer at (847) 577-3516 or email her at mewajer@busnengg.com.
Need for Speed: Students and teens in sixth grade through high school may experience the thrills of racing small-scale remote control cars on high-banked, stock car-style racetracks from 2 to 4 p.m. July 11 at the Mount Prospect Public Library, 10 S. Emerson St. Sean Bowman of BLDM Micro Speedway will bring his racing system for the session. Bowman will show participants how to build their own raceway and then race the small cars. To register, log onto www.mppl.org/events or phone (847) 253-5675.