McHenry Times

Village of Fox River Grove Special Events Committee met Aug. 9.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

I. CALL TO ORDER 

Meeting called to order at 6:58 PM by Jamie Dimmick

II. ROLL CALL 

Members Present: Jamie Dimmick, Erin Jonas, Nicole Kole, Vesela Nikay, Lisa Smith

Members Not Present:

Others:

III. PUBLIC COMMENT 

NONE

IV. MOTION TO APPROVE MINUTES 

A MOTION was made by Jamie Dimmick to approve minutes from April 12, 2023. MOTION seconded by Erin Jonas. All in favor. MOTION carried.

V. FIREWORKS (JULY 8TH) 

A. Committee Feedback:

a. Magician - drew a large crowd but pricing was not ideal.

b. Globy Bubble Guy - he requested a location near the river but it turned out to be out of line of sight to guests and will need to move to a more visible location next year.

c. My Funnel - dessert truck had too long of a line so we should add another dessert truck. 

d. Your Sisters - pizza truck was very good.

e. Busses - people could not see the sign for which route to take because it was low to the ground and should be higher up.

f. Metra Parking Lot Bus #4 - was not utilized much and should include another stop or be used when other route lines are too long.

g. Handicap Parking - full within the first 35 mins and need to consider another parking location; maybe allow handicap persons be dropped off at top of the hill/at the entrance?

h. Several people asked to give tips to the drivers. Consider having "tip" jars at the event for people to donate to.

i. Require menus be submitted from vendors a week before the event so it can be advertised on social media.

B. SEC Members in attendance: Vesela and Nicole; Erin arrived around 8pm

VI. GOLF CART PARADE (AUGUST 6TH) 

A. Parade lasted 28 minutes from 12pm start to the end of awards.

B. 1st Place - Tiki Hut by the Gunn family, 2nd Place - Chicago Bears by Susan Dilsaver and District 3 colleagues, 3rd Place - Fox by the Gleason family.

C. Prizes were mini golf cart trophies.

D. Pam & Greg Henk were judges representing the Friends of the Library and the Lions Club.

E. Pam is going to meet with Jamie to discuss a better way for the judging to take place next year.

F. Consider changing the route so it's longer.

G. Advertise in more locations to get more participants and more parade sidewalk viewers.

H. There was too much lag time in between the parade and Vintage Base Ball game. Consider moving the parade time to 1pm in 2024.

I. There were 11 total golf carts who participated. The event was well received and people were already talking about what they wanted to do next year!

J. SEC Members in attendance: Vesela, Lisa, and Jamie.

VII. VINTAGE BASE BALL GAME (AUGUST 6TH) 

A. Batting practice began at 1pm and the game officially started at 2pm. The game was over by 3:30pm with the Salmons winning 20-3.

B. Approximately 60 people were in attendance. The weather was great and many people stayed for the entire game.

C. Paul Dimmick, @properties Cary-Grove provided hot dogs, individual bags of chips, and bottled water to each player, as well as free hot dogs to all the spectators.

D. We received $6 in donations for the 2024 fireworks. 

E. Jamie requested an invoice from the Chicago Salmon. 

F. SEC Members in attendance: Vesela, Lisa, and Jamie.

VIII. FALL FUN 2023 (OCTOBER 21ST)

A. Event is from 2-5pm on the ARS Soccer Fields and Kids Care Basketball Courts.

B. Jamie has confirmed: Friendly Farms Petting Zoo & 6 Ring Pony Rides ($1600), Ryan Buyak Live performance from 2-4pm ($300), Beer Tent sponsored by the FRG Lions Club, Costume Contest sponsored by Paul Dimmick, @properties, and the Chili Contest sponsored by the FRG Rec Council.

C. SweetStop Apples has been invited but has not confirmed their attendance.

a. Nicole and Erin will find a food truck and dessert option.

D. Any vendor profiting from the event will be required to donate a $25 gift card that will be used as prizes for SEC sponsored Fall events.

E. Lisa will handle reserving the 200 pumpkins, 15 hay bales, and 10 corn stalks from the Facebook Farmer used in 2022.

F. Vesela will share the participation letter with the Chamber of Commerce seeking businesses to participate. 

G. Vesela to reach out to Chamber about having Miss Cary-Grove attend the event and handle the pumpkin decorating station from 2-4:30pm.

H. Jamie to post advertisements to Facebook to seek vendor participants.

I. Committee members to update the shared Google spreadsheet to keep track of requests made to local organizations and businesses.

IX. TREE LIGHTING 2023 (December 1st) 

A. New location for the event is outside at the FRG Memorial Library in the Metra parking lot.

B. Will collaborate with the library to host the event.

C. Metra lot will be shut down to accommodate attendees. Train commuters will have several alternate lots to park at.

D. Consider utilizing the Metra warming station.

E. Lions Club will do Santa Pictures.

F. Jamie to discuss the plan for the carolers with FRGML. 

G. Hot Chocolate to be served.

H. Consider having a food and dessert truck.

I. Consider bringing Santa & Mrs. Claus in a fire truck.

X. OTHER BUSINESS 

A. Pumpkin Decorating Contest will run October 20 until November 1st. Winners announced on November 10th. Ask the Police Department to be judges again.

B. Halloween Decorating Contest will run October 20 until November 1st. Winners announced on November 10th. Ask the Public Works Department to be judges again.

C. Discussed other modes of communication to advertise our events, as people have commented they aren't aware of upcoming events.

D. Erin shared ideas for additional events to host: "taste of FRG," scavenger hunt around town, concert in the park, fishing derby, window painting contest, sledding race, family camp out, boat races on the Foxmoor ponds, BINGO nights.

E. Cary-Grove Jaycees are folding. Inquire with Scouts about taking over the grilling at the Fireworks.

XI. ADJOURNMENT 

A MOTION was made by Jamie Dimmick to adjourn the meeting at 8:42 PM. MOTION and seconded by Vesela Nikay. All in favor. MOTION was carried. 

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, September 13, 2023.

https://cms5.revize.com/revize/foxrivergrove/document%20center/Minutes/Special%20Events%20Committee/Special%20Events%20Committe%20Minutes%208-9-2023.pdf