Geneva Autumn Fair turns back the entertainment clock

There was a time - well before computers, video games and satellite TV - that kids amused themselves with potato sack races, finding the perfect pumpkin or going on hayrides.

That time came again Saturday afternoon for hundreds of children and their families during the Geneva Park District Foundation's annual Autumn Fair at Peck Farm Park.

The significance of an autumn festival on the property of the historic Peck farm and its recognizable 1869 Italianate brick house was not lost on event organizers.

"Autumn and the time of harvest is important," said Don Manikas, chairman of the park district foundation board. "We used to have this event during the summer in July, and it was called the Twilight Fair, but it was always too hot. About three years ago, we changed it to the fall, and it has worked out very well."

So well, in fact, that more than 1,500 people were expected to attend, creating a steady stream of visitors crossing Kaneville Road from the Persinger Recreation Center parking lot.

"This is an excellent way to show off the Peck Farm site," foundation board member Dave Nelson said. "There are a lot of first-time attendees each year because there are so many things to do for the kids."

A beautiful autumn day for families to experience rural history had to be what George Peck had in mind when he sold his family's farm property to the Geneva Park District in the late 1990s with the intent that someone preserve it for future generations.

The Peck family would have been pleased to see moms and dads, and grandmas and grandpas, with kids in tow enjoying the pumpkin painting, pony rides, three-legged races and searching for candy in a haystack.

Lines formed for a visit to one of Peck Farm's most popular attractions, the Butterfly House, which closes for the season after this weekend.

And smiling parents with cameras formed a circle around the pony ride pen to snap off what has been a family tradition for decades - a photo of your child riding a pony.

Tina Gilsinn of Geneva, who was with her husband Brian and three children - Braden, Alaina and Alec - agreed that it was good to expose the children to something other than the digital video world.

"The kids wanted to do the pony rides and touch the cows," Tina said. "They came last year, and wanted to come again this year."

Julie Weals of the park district foundation had the task of overseeing the popular cow chip bingo games in which 100 squares inside of a square cow pen were sold for the chance to win money - if a cow left her calling card on your square during a half hour of grazing in the pen.

The cows weren't cooperating, or were possibly a bit constipated, as only one left a direct mark on a square in the first five games.

In the games where the real thing wasn't delivered, a fake cow chip disc was tossed into the pen to determine a consolation prize winner.

The autumn fair also illustrated once again that kids say some interesting things.

After Adrianna Gonnella, 8, Isabella Pignataro, 7, and Ava Pignataro, 9, all of Geneva, took part in a challenging potato sack race, Adrianna was asked what would happen if an adult tried it.

"You would fall over," she answered.

During a presentation about birds of prey, Tom Hill of the Atwood Center in Rockford talked about how owls can see a mouse in the grass 100 yards away at night.

But 6-year-old Dylan Taylor of South Elgin countered with a keen observation, saying, "I bet they still can't see Santa Claus."