Jammin' on Main Street to benefit food pantry

Wauconda's 11th annual Jammin' on Main Street event will be back this weekend, offering good fun for a good cause.

Sponsored by the Wauconda Area Chamber of Commerce and hosted by the Village of Wauconda, the street dance serves as a fundraiser for the Wauconda/Island Lake Food Pantry. An estimated crowd of 4,000 will be attending the free event, which will feature live music by local bands Kevin Purcell & the Nightburners and Stone Quarry Road.

Local vendors, including Three Amigas, Nancy's Pizza, JJ Twig's Pizza & Pub, Lakeside Inn, Bliss Wine, Bulldogs Grill, Wauconda Moose Lodge, Slyce Coal Fired Pizza, M's Sweets N' Tarts, Luigi's Pizzeria, Brother's Rib Shack, Island Lake Dairy Queen and Village Inn will line Main Street providing food and drinks. Numerous nonprofit organizations also will be present, including the Wauconda Lions Club, which will raffle off the long-awaited drawing for a Hawaiian Dream Vacation. The winning ticket will be pulled on stage at 9 p.m. Raffle tickets for the vacation will also be sold at the event.

Once again, there will be a designated teen area at Beach Park where the younger crowd can tune in to the live music of Hot Trash and Exit to Enter. The teen area, which is being sponsored by Wauconda/Island Lake Youth NFP Inc., will be open until 10 p.m.

Last year's crowd-pleaser will be back again. The 33-foot high, inflatable Titanic Adventure Slide will offer thrill-seekers a virtual free fall. The Pirate's Moonwalk will provide entertainment for younger attendees. There will be a $3 charge for each ride, and a $20 wristband will be available for unlimited rides.

Chamber members, Jim Schwanz and Paul Washburn from Acres Group organized a monthlong food drive with 32 area businesses serving as collection points. Their donations will be picked up with an antique farm tractor provided by Acres Group on Friday, Sept. 3. A list of food drop locations can be found at waucondaareachamber.org.

To involve the entire community in the food drive, all residents are encouraged to bring a bag of groceries or school supplies to the Citizens Activity Center the night of the dance. All donors will be entered into a free raffle drawing for prizes. Food pantry volunteers, with the help of the 2010 Wauconda Area Queens, will also conduct a 50/50 cash raffle from 6 to 9 p.m., with the winner announced on stage at 9 p.m.

If you would like to be an event sponsor, or donate cash, nonperishable food items or a raffle prize for the event, please contact the chamber office at (847) 526-5580.