Deerfield Family Days offers loads of activities - and a little respite
Even beyond the July 3 fireworks and the July 4 parade, it seems like the 57th Deerfield Family Days offers more activities than a person can conceivably do.
There's the disc jockey that kicks things off at 5 p.m. Sunday at Brickyard Park. The music will serve as a soundtrack to food trucks, kids' rides and carnival games until the fireworks launch around dusk.
Then Monday morning at Jewett Park the highly motivated can run in the Rotary 5K beginning at 8 a.m. The course starts and ends at Maplewood Park, extending up to North Avenue and back again. Priced at $35, registration starts on-site at 7:15 a.m. or is available in advance at raceroster.com.
Back at Jewett Park, Wild Roasters delivers breakfast from 8-10:30 a.m., vying for attention with a kids' bicycle parade, a dog show (BYOD), an arts and crafts show, live music, amusement rides and carnival games for the kids, a flower show at the Jewett Park Pavilion, and more food trucks.
That's all before the 4th of July Parade steps off at noon from the Deer Spring Pool area.
After the approximately hourlong parade, the fun continues back at Jewett Park until Family Days ends around 3 p.m. Some things are free; others come at a price. Information and the whole roster is available at the village website, deerfield.il.us.
"There's a lot going on at Jewett Park," said Judy Geuder, a 41-year Deerfield resident. She's the parade chair and, with Angie Butera, the co-chair of Family Days.
As of June 23, about 60 parade entries had signed up, Geuder said, offering high school bands and sports teams, politicians, business floats, and parade marshals Deerfield Mayor Emeritus Harriet Rosenthal and the League of Women Voters.
"I think it's absolutely fabulous," Geuder said of the whole shebang.
"I feel like Deerfield is that small town in the middle of suburban sprawl, and that's how it feels when we do something like Family Days. The families come out, they bring their kids, and it's a two-day event to celebrate the Fourth of July. We have events for infants to senior citizens to enjoy."
Sometimes, though, when 1,000-or-so friends hot wheel their bikes to the bouncy house serenaded by barking dogs, certain people need a spot just to relax and mellow out.
This year, Family Days has that, too.
A Sensory Friendly Area will be designated for people with special needs at the north end of Jewett Park, near Hazel Avenue.
Available from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. July 4, it's intended to be a quieter area with specially designed games, crafts and activities - like a bubble machine - stories and soft seating created for people with sensory challenges and other considerations. Those interested should be aware that the parade will pass by the spot from about 12:30-1 p.m.
"It's just a place to chill out, especially for families who may have one member of their family who is a little overwhelmed by the rest of the stuff going on," said Victoria Street, executive director of the Deerfield Bannockburn Riverwoods Chamber of Commerce.
The DBR Chamber established the Sensory Friendly Area in tandem with GiGi's Playhouse, the Village of Deerfield, and with a big boost from the Deerfield Lions Club.
"It doesn't necessarily mean it's a child," Street said. "It could be anyone. We all get overwhelmed sometimes, so it's a nice place to go sit for a little while."
People are asked to respectfully reserve the sensory spot for those who need it, and an adult or caregiver must accompany and remain with children.
Street said such sensory areas are "a trending thing."
"There's a lot of kids with special needs who don't participate in activities because they're loud and overwhelming," she said.
It seems Deerfield Family Days can get like that. Now there's space for those who need to take it down a notch.
"It will be something that will be incorporated into village events from now on," Geuder said.