The Downers Grove Rotary Club’s GroveFest proposal was approved by the village council Tuesday night, ensuring a privately operated alternative to Heritage Fest, which the council suspended last year citing budget issues. The club, which has hosted annual Oktoberfest celebrations and also operated the Heritage Fest Beer Garden for the past five years, is confident [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Heritage Fest'
Downers Rotary Fest
April 14th, 2010 · 14 Comments · Heritage Fest
Rotary picks up the pieces; fits them together in a smaller package. As soon as council whacked funding for Heritage Fest last December there was a resulting hue and cry of DG angst that generated 6,195 FaceBook supporters. As soon as it was clear Heritage Fest was not going to receive funding, the DG Rotary Club, presided by Barb [...]
CEC explores future role
January 29th, 2010 · 10 Comments · Boards and Commissions, Community Events, Heritage Fest
The Community Events Commission met tonight. Village Manager Dave Fieldman was leading part two of an exercise designed so the CEC could figure out their mission moving forward, and did a fine job. Tell me again why in the past we spent good money on outsiders to moderate this kind of priority setting stuff? Exactly. [...]
Tags: Heritage Fest
2009 Heritage Fest reports
December 16th, 2009 · Comments Off · Community Events, Heritage Fest, Uncategorized
Good news in 2009. Update- I kludged an upload of the complete 2009 Heritage Fest Annual Report, available after the break.
$494,000?
December 13th, 2009 · 39 Comments · Community Events, Heritage Fest
How much does Heritage Fest cost the village? How much positive budget impact does the village receive from suspending it for 2010? The final figure released by the village indicates that suspending the 29th consecutive Heritage Fest will save the village $494,000. A copy of the 2009 report written last October has been requested. Who [...]
Tags: budget·Heritage Fest
Budget known, HFest unknown
December 1st, 2009 · 27 Comments · budget, Heritage Fest, Village Council
Budget passes 6-1. Everyone on council agreed this was a tough budget to do, and in the end all but Commissioner William Waldack voted for it. Several council members echoed Bruce Beckman’s request for a “debriefing” so that the good and bad of this year’s marathon process could be reviewed and improvements wrought. Most council [...]
Tags: budget·Heritage Fest·local government·municipal budget·property taxes·Taxes·village·Village Council
An open letter to council
November 25th, 2009 · 27 Comments · Community Events, Fundraisers, Heritage Fest
Please save Heritage Fest. Council members, I am writing to express my disappointment at the decision to suspend Heritage Fest for 2010. Realistically, I beleive Commissioner Neustadt’s expressed concern is valid: suspended for one year makes it very hard to bring back the next year.
Tags: Community Events·downtown·Heritage Fest·summer festivals
Heritage Fest on hold
November 24th, 2009 · 19 Comments · Heritage Fest, Village Council
The kids couldn’t believe their ears: There will be no village-sponsored Heritage Fest in 2010. The annual festival will be suspended, allowing staff to reconsider and reconfigure the event for the financially challenged future. During head-nods at tonight’s council workshop meeting, only Commissioner Geoff Neustadt, who chairs the Community Events Commission, spoke plaintively in support [...]