Buffalo Grove gears up for summer event adjustments

Buffalo Grove officials are already planning for summer events.

But it's looking like Buffalo Grove Days might be drastically scaled down, even dead on arrival.

At Monday's committee of the whole, trustees pondered the options for summer events.

The Farmers Market is a shoe-in for this summer after a successful season, despite the pandemic.

The Fourth of July fireworks, which were canceled last year, could be returning.

Village Manager Dane Bragg said staff reached out to the park district about collaborating on a drive-in fireworks event utilizing the district's parking facilities, along with the municipal campus and, possibly, parking on Hamilton Partners office park property.

Bragg said the village has already made a $7,500 deposit last year, which is rolled over into this year. The remaining $19,000 was included in the 2021 budget.

Definitely off the roster of summer events is the Buffalo Grove Symphonic Band's regular concert series, including the traditional Fourth of July concert.

Founding Music Director and Conductor Howard Green said there are difficulties in obtaining practice areas, which are typically provided by the schools, which have not opened their facilities to public groups.

Green said the band is heartbroken, since, “This would have been our 20th year.”

Green suggested Fourth of July popup concerts at various parks, parking lots or shopping centers.

The big question mark for the summer is Buffalo Grove Days. Time is of the essence, since the village typically would make deposits for vendors and such resources as tents, portable toilets and soundstage equipment by the end of March.

Public Works Director Michael Skibbe told the board, “We've been shaking our crystal ball vigorously and it still looks murky for what things are going to look like on Labor Day weekend.”

He said a full-fledged Buffalo Grove Days cannot be held, since the food tent, bingo and the parade don't meet social distancing guidelines now in place.

Options include postponing the event another year, or holding it but scaling it down, putting on the carnival and having food trucks instead of a food tent.

Paulette Greenberg, the chair of the Buffalo Grove Days Committee, said a survey of committee members and liaisons is agreeable to a three-day carnival and food trucks.

Trustees had a number of concerns.

Trustee Andrew Stein raised the question of what happens if it rains and there is no food or beer tent where people can go in an emergency.

Trustee Gregory Pike raised concerns about the cost when the village budget is already tight.

Skibbe said a reduced event could cost the village $100,000 if there were no corporate sponsorships or other outside revenue. The village has budgeted $30,000.

But Trustee Eric Smith said, “I'm optimistic. I'm confident that things are turning for the good. We're six months out. And unless I hear something from the state in the next couple of weeks, I think there is a good chance that we would be able to have this.”