Village dissolves Buffalo Grove Days Committee, will form new events panel

When it comes to community events in Buffalo Grove, the focus has long been on its traditional Labor Day weekend festival, Buffalo Grove Days.

Now the village is expanding its vision for events, and that vision does not include the volunteer Buffalo Grove Days Committee.

The village board formally dissolved the committee this month. In its place, officials plan to establish a new Community Events Committee that will lead the annual end-of-summer festival as well as other events at Mike Rylko Community Park and the public space within the forthcoming The Clove development.

The role of the Buffalo Grove Days Committee, which once had as many as 60 members, dwindled over the past two years as the pandemic canceled the 2020 fest and the 2021 version was scaled down.

Former Buffalo Grove Days Committee Co-Chair Paulette Greenberg said that by this year, the committee was handling only the fest's barbecue challenge and the car show.

The diminishing role of the committee came as the village board last year began a 50-50 partnership on the festival with the Buffalo Grove Park District. The village board recently renewed that agreement for three more years.

"The 50-50 partnership with the park district has proven to be mutually beneficial," Deputy Village Manager Michael Skibbe told the village board recently. "It's utilized the skills of each agency to support the changing landscape of festivals in a post-COVID world."

It also was a box office success. The 2021 event earned more than $60,000 in net revenue. The village donated more than $30,000 to the Buffalo Grove Community Foundation to support nonprofits in the village, Skibbe said..

Former Buffalo Grove Days Committee member Karen Danenberg called the group's demise "inevitable."

"I think for many years the village didn't make a lot of money on it, and I think they just finally got to the point where they said if the grounds are being used by the park district and the park district came forward, why not make a partnership," she said.

Danenberg, who served on the committee for 25 years and arranged the main stage entertainment, fondly recalled the camaraderie between the volunteers and the village staff.

"We all worked hand in hand and then we still were able to enjoy a fun time after the park had closed," she said. "It was like a family."