Not much joy at Naperville, Aurora Olympic parties

Employees closing the patio of Jimmy's Grill at 11 a.m. and an empty Chicago Avenue in downtown Naperville told the story of a party that was over before the champagne even started flowing.

Naperville's Back the Bid street celebration hadn't even begun when the International Olympic Committee eliminated Chicago from contention to host the games of the 2016 Summer Olympiad.

Nevertheless, a small group of about 75 officials and residents hung out, danced the new NaperDance Chicago 2016 with cheerleaders from Naperville North and Naperville Central high schools and talked of what might have been.

Resident Callie Madal braved the chilly drizzle to dance a few steps with her year-old son, Jayce, but it wasn't the party she was hoping for.

"He'd never remember this, but I brought him out so one day I could tell him 'We were there, kind of, when Chicago won the Olympics,'" she said. "Now I can tell him he danced the NaperDance with some cute cheerleaders the day we didn't get it."

Mayor George Pradel was disappointed Chicago fell short but more than happy to show the cheerleaders his dance moves.

"Even though Chicago didn't get the bid, what the heck, let's do the dance anyway," Pradel said. "Naperville likes to party. There's a lot of enthusiasm out here and I think that's wonderful."

A few doors down the street, at Jimmy's Grill, owner Jim Bergeron had all of the TVs but one tuned to the Blackhawks game. And he sent home more than half his staff.

"We were all geared up for a big rally and we were excited to participate," he said. "But it all fizzled so I had to send people home."

Despite the boxes of T-shirts left undistributed and the American flags still bundled at empty tables, group organizer Veronica Porter refused to let the mood be ruined by the morning's announcement.

"I'm disappointed, of course. And I'm even more shocked that we didn't make it out of the first round," Porter said. "But we're keeping the party going and we're going to celebrate Naperville's efforts and the efforts of everyone who worked so hard to get Chicago to this point in the process."

A slightly smaller crowd that gathered at Aurora's Ballydoyle Pub and Restaurant Friday morning also was left slightly deflated.

"Everyone was really charged up for the first hour and all of a sudden the news hit and there was a huge hush and everyone was like 'What?'" said Laurie Diberardino, spokeswoman for the Aurora Area Convention and Visitors' Bureau. "Now we're doing what Chicago people do. We're recovering quickly with food and drink."