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Winfield's Good Old Days celebrates Lions Club

Posted September 09, 2009 11:00 pm

Robert Sanchez

The Good Old Days parade, a staple of Winfield's annual festival, will begin at 1:15 p.m. Sunday at Sunnyside Avenue. Daily Herald File Photo

Winfield's annual farewell to summer returns this weekend with music, food and a community group's golden anniversary.

The 42nd annual Good Old Days, which starts today and continues through Sunday, Sept. 13, in the village's town's center, is especially significant because it's celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Winfield Lions Club.

"It's a bigger celebration than most because of the Lions' 50th anniversary," said Rich Bysina, executive director of the Winfield Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the festival.

The Lions Club will get things started when its beer tent opens at 5 p.m. today near Beecher Avenue and Church Street. Harlan Flo will be the first in a string of musical acts that will perform at the beer garden. Buzz Kilman and the All Bubba Blues Band is scheduled to play at 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

If you are looking for one last funnel cake this summer festival season, the food court will open at 4 p.m. Friday along Beecher, just west of Church. The menu includes gyros, fried pork sandwiches, egg rolls and jambalaya.

Also on Friday night, the final Cruzin Winfield car show of the year is set for 6 to 9 p.m. along Jewell Road, east of Winfield Road. Mark Z Band is slated to perform.

To help promote local businesses, an expo tent will open along Beecher. It will include a "service station" so residents can learn more about local non-for-profit organizations.

While thrill-seekers try the carnival rides near St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, festgoers can test their athletic skills with "pitch, pass and shoot" games.

Last year, organizers introduced the armchair quarterback contest, which challenged sitting participants to throw a football through an empty television screen. This year, the event has been expanded to include a fast pitch baseball throwing contest and a basketball shooting contest.

Miss Illinois Teen USA 2009 Stacie Juris will make an appearance on Saturday afternoon. And Ashley Bond, Miss Illinois USA 2009, will participate in Sunday's parade.

"Kids, especially little girls, love - to no one's surprise - a beauty pageant winner," Bysina said.

Bysina said another festival favorite is the park district's duck race planned for Sunday morning on the DuPage River, near the Beecher Avenue bridge.

Hundreds of yellow plastic ducks will be dumped into the river to slowly float toward the finish line. Numbered ducks pulled from the water will earn prizes for the people who sponsored them. Tickets to sponsor a duck can be purchased throughout the weekend at the festival.

Finally, the staple of the festival - the parade - will start at 1:15 p.m. Sunday at Sunnyside Avenue.

"We hosted it a couple of times during a Saturday evening," Bysina said. "But Sunday afternoon seems to be the more popular day and time, especially when it's not in conflict with the Bears game."

John Karwoski, Skip Higgins and Fritz Karwoski - charter members of the Lions Club - will be the parade grand marshals. In another nod to the Lions Club, the parade theme is "A Call to Service."

About 40 parade entries will travel west from Sunnyside to Winfield Road and then north to Beecher. The procession will include classic cars, firetrucks, floats and the West Chicago Community High School marching band.

From beginning to end, Bysina said, the four-day festival will be "a fun time for everyone."

"Here's a chance for everybody in the community to get to know one another a little better," he said. "A lot of people who have moved out of Winfield come back to see old friends."

Good Old Days' food court opens Friday afternoon along Beecher Avenue at Church Street. Daily Herald File Photo

Beauty pageant contestants and the armchair quarterback competition are making a return to this year's Good Old Days festival in Winfield. Daily Herald File Photo

Good Old Days Winfield's Good Old Days festival, sponsored by the Winfield Chamber of Commerce, runs Sept. 10 to 13 at various points in downtown Winfield. Hours: 5-10 p.m. today, 4-11 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free, but there is a charge for food and carnival rides. Info: winfieldchamber.biz. THURSDAY 5-10 p.m. Lions beer garden, Beecher Avenue and Church Street 6-9 p.m. Harlan Flo, Lions beer garden 7-9 p.m. Book sale, Winfield Public Library FRIDAY 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Book sale, Winfield Public Library 4-10 p.m. Food court, Beecher Avenue at Church Street 4-11 p.m. Lions beer garden 5-8 p.m. DJ Tony Tone, Lions beer garden 5 p.m. to dusk Expo tent, Church Street at Beecher Avenue 5-11 p.m. Carnival, St. John Liberty Street parking lot 5-11 p.m. Pitch, Pass and Shoot Games, Beecher Avenue and Church Street 6-9 p.m. Cruzin Winfield, Jewell Road at Winfield Road 6:30-8:30 p.m. Mark Z Band, Jewell Road at Winfield Road 8-11 p.m. Rob Russo & The Loose Screws, Lions beer garden SATURDAY 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Softball Tournament, Wynwood Fields 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Corn Hole/Bags Tournament, Lions Beer Garden 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Winfield Area Gardeners Plant & Bake Sale, Creekside Park 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Arts & Crafts Fair, Creekside Park 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Booksale, Winfield Public Library 9 a.m. Historical Society's Walking Tour, starting at John's 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bicycle Tent Sale, Prairie Path Cycles 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Lions beer garden 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Food court Noon to 1 p.m. Winfield Middle School Percussion Group, Creekside Park Noon to 4 p.m. Petting Zoo, Creekside Park Noon Contest Awards, Hedges Station 1-11 p.m. Pitch, Pass and Shoot Games, Beecher Avenue and Church Street 1-11 p.m. Carnival, St. John Liberty Street parking lot 1 p.m. to dusk Expo tent, Church Street at Beecher Avenue 1-3 p.m. Coin Carnival, Creekside Park 1-3 p.m. Minnow Races, Creekside Park 1-7 p.m. Home Depot Toy Building, Athletic Field 2-5 p.m. Black Hills Duo, Lions beer garden 5-8 p.m. The Debe Welch Band, Lions beer garden 5:30-7:30 p.m. RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon, Wynwood Fields 7:30-10:30 p.m. Teen Street Dance, St. John Liberty Street parking lot 8-9:30 p.m. Heirs Of Mo, Lions beer garden 9:30-11 p.m. Buzz Kilman and the All Bubba Blues Band, Lions beer garden SUNDAY 10 a.m. Duck Race, DuPage River at Beecher Avenue 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Corn Hole/Bags Tournament, Lions Beer Garden 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Winfield Area Gardeners Plant & Bake Sale, Creekside Park Noon to 5 p.m. Lions beer garden 1-6 p.m. Food court 1-3 p.m. Dixieland Jazz Band, Lions beer garden 1:15 p.m. Parade from Sunnyside Avenue to Winfield Road 2-6 p.m. Carnival, St. John Liberty Street parking lot 2-5 p.m. Pitch, Pass and Shoot Games, Athletic Field 2-5 p.m. Expo Tent, Church Street at Beecher Avenue 2-4 p.m. Good Old Games, Creekside Park 3-5 p.m. Deja Blu, Lions beer garden

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