Algonquin man raises money, hosts benefit for flood relief efforts
The Algonquin community was rocked this summer when record flooding along the Fox River damaged homes and forced the cancellation of a decades-old tradition: the Algonquin Founders' Days festival.
But high water levels weren't going to stop Dan Barton from giving the village a festival to remember - and his efforts helped his neighbors in the process.
Barton, an Algonquin resident for the last 10 years, joined the volunteer planning committee about two years ago in hopes of helping the festival flourish. He was nominated as the group's 2017 president and was in the thick of preparing for the 57th annual event when heavy rainfall and severe storms hit the area in July.
The group first rushed to move the four-day festival away from the river, then canceled it altogether - for the first time in the event's history - so as not to tax village resources as staff responded to flooding.
Instead, Barton and his team spent the next several weeks scrambling to organize a smaller-scale event in September aimed at benefiting the flood-ridden village. The group also teamed up with the Algonquin Rotary Club to raise donations for relief efforts.
"Founders' (Days) has, for 57 years, been a part of the community. Why not make sure the community knows we're still there, and there for them?" Barton said. "It just seemed like the right thing to do."
The River Relief Benefit raised about $4,300 for flood victims, he said, while the rest of its proceeds will go toward next year's full-scale Founders' Days event.
"It took extraordinary leadership to bring the Founders' group back to put on the late summer festival after the flood," Village President John Schmitt said. "Dan really rallied the troops and put on a great festival."
Organizing Algonquin's largest event isn't the only task occupying Barton's time. He's a union electrician by trade, a husband and father of two, a committee chairman for Cub Scout Pack 152, and a board member at St. Margaret Mary Catholic School in Algonquin.
"It keeps me on my toes," he said.
Barton also helped organize a golf outing and launch a charity, the Mason Wasz Foundation, in memory of his friend's 3-year-old son, who died earlier this year. Funds are donated to Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, where young Mason fought for his life.
Amid all his volunteer efforts, Barton sees Founders' Days as a chance to give back to the community that supports its residents.
"I've always loved festivals, and I've always loved Founders, … so my time is devoted to making sure the festival is there for the community," he said. "It's really just providing fun for people. When people are having a good time, I have a good time."