Water war a splash of fun at Lake Villa Days

The skies cleared up over the Lake Villa Days grounds about noon Sunday, but that didn't keep people there from getting wet.

The participants in the annual water fight contest, in which two teams armed with fire hoses try to push a metal keg across goal lines, were drenched after each 90-second battle.

So were some of the audience members gathered around the court at Lehmann Park. Errant sprays from the hoses -- some accidental, some deliberate -- hit the crowd occasionally and cooled off the onlookers.

The water fights were the centerpiece of the four-day Lake Villa Days festival, which serves as a fundraiser for the Lake Villa Volunteer Fire Department.

Early Sunday afternoon, the carnival grounds and food areas were all but empty. Instead, dozens of people were packed into the water fight competition area at the back of the park, not far from the shores of Cedar Lake.

Among the competitors was 24-year-old Fox Lake resident Jesse Linczmaier, who was competing with old friends from high school on a team sponsored by Horn's Tree Specialist.

"It's the most fun thing I do all year," Linczmaier said. "It's like a little kid playing with bubbles."

Last year, Linczmaier's team took third place in the contest. Teammate Randy Evans looked at the crew's chances optimistically.

"Even if you lose, you're out having a good time anyway," the 23-year-old Ingleside resident said.

That was certainly the case for Austin Raysby, who was part of a team sponsored by a company called Mondo USA. The squad was eliminated in the third round Sunday.

It was Raysby's first time in a water fight.

"It's not has hard as I thought," he said. "We learned a lot of tactics for next year - like staying close to your teammates (and) aiming for the top of the barrel."

Raysby admitted his team didn't practice before the big event. Could that have helped them?

"Most definitely," he said.