Annual wine, beer and cigar festival to benefit Brainerd community center effort
For the third year, the Save Brainerd organization will sponsor the North Shore Wine, Beer, Cigar and Food Festival on the Brainerd grounds, 416 W. Park Ave. (Route 176), Libertyville.
The event runs from 3 to 8:30 p.m. Aug. 25 and will offer a chance to sample the wares of many area businesses, while helping save a community treasure.
Tickets are $30 in advance and $40 at the door, and each ticket includes a souvenir glass and 10 “taste” tickets for sampling. Additional “tastes” are available as well, and designated drivers can enter for $10 and enjoy cigars, food, and nonalcoholic drinks.
The festival will feature more than 325 wines and 125 beers. Once again, Neumann’s Cigars and More will be on hand with fine smokes, and area restaurants including Mainstreet Smokehouse, Morgan’s Bar & Grill, and Nirvana Wine & Grillerie will offer delicious foods. The lineup of entertainment is yet to be announced.
Also, this year will see the second annual Besley’s Homebrew Competition, open to all amateur homebrewers. Last year’s winner, David Reuter, had his Lap Dog Robust Porter brewed by Greg Brown at Mickey Finn’s, and sold there this spring. The goal is to spotlight the efforts of the Save Brainerd Project and help spread the word about better beers throughout Lake County. For complete competition rules, guidelines and registration, visit http://northshorewinebeerfest.brewcompetition.com/
This festival has proved to be such a fun evening in the past, even the Libertyville High School Class of ’77 decided to join in, and has arranged to hold its 35th reunion at the festival.
The North Shore Wine, Beer, Cigar, and Food Festival will take place on the Brainerd grounds. For more information or to order tickets, check the website at www.northshorewinebeerfest.com. Tickets may also be purchased at the Libertyville Village Hall, S & S Wine & Spirit Warehouse, Mickey Finn’s Brewery, Morgan’s Bar & Grill, Nirvana Wine & Grillerie, and Wisma.
The festival is a major fundraiser for Save Brainerd, a group dedicated to saving the old Brainerd school building and turning it into a community center.
The building is on the Illinois register of historic buildings and has been designated a LEED structure, (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), a national organization dedicated to avoiding waste in usable buildings.
Unfortunately, although the building has “good bones,” a lot of cosmetic repair is needed, and so far any funds raised by the group have gone into immediate repairs.
Officials have repaired the leaking roof, several windows and the furnace for year-round use. The next goal is to get the water operating in the bathrooms and fix the skylights in the auditorium.
It’s been estimated it will take $3 million to get the building to where it can be fully used on a regular basis. Full renovation would be much more. However, cost of demolition was estimated at more than $4.7 million, and would destroy a beautiful, usable building that could create a unique community gathering space.
More information on Brainerd can be found at www.savebrainerd.org.