Midsummer Madness participants enjoy the cool air in Dining on the Green as they wait for raffles to begin. (Photo: Gary Kopycinski)
Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- Setting forth on the hottest day of the year so far when temps in Park Forest topped at 100° F, Midsummer Madness participants marched through the Park Forest’s DownTown visiting businesses, collecting signatures and earning tickets for prizes raffled off at the event’s conclusion. Beginning at 5 p.m. and continuing until the raffles began at 6:30, the annual trek drew its biggest crowd ever. By 7 p.m. when the event wrapped up, Dining on the Green was almost filled to capacity.
High-end raffle items included a Garmin GPS and and Amazon Kindle. Eligiblity for these prizes went to those who visited every business on the list.
Sandy Brudd (left) of Park Forest and Lolita Ray of Seattle, Washington, rest after visiting businesses during Midsummer Madness. (Photo: Gary Kopycinski)
A large percentage of participants earned the coveted green tickets qualifying them for the big-ticket prizes.
Business owners were pleased too. Teona Rice of Teona’s Boutiques, 310 Main Street, stopped by the Commerce ARC after the event to tell ENEWSPF she was pleased with the number of people who visited her store.
All told, the event drew a wide demographic of residents and participants from surrounding communities. Children did their best to keep up with parents, or, perhaps it was the other way around.
eNews Park Forest is pleased to share with readers conversations with just some who came out in the sweltering weather:
