Most of the people around Wauconda didn`t know about longtime resident Joanne Dawson`s hobby-drag racing. That was before Waucondafest this past weekend.
Amid the 80-odd cars at the fest`s car show was a sleek, black, alcohol-fueled drag racer that does a mile in less than 24 seconds. And there standing beside it was Dawson.
She thought the town`s yearly festival would be a good time to let the neighbors know what she does on the weekends.
”I honestly wasn`t sure how everyone would take it,” Dawson said.
”People have been really curious, you know, wanting to know about the car and what it`s like to drive it.”
The crowds at the car show were around Dawson. Although owners of flashy cars came from all over the state, the local owner of a souped-up Silverado truck took the Best of Show prize Sunday afternoon.
And even though there were long lines trailing beneath the amusement rides of a touring carnival company, the highlights of the four-day festival were mostly local.
The ”Ugly Tie” contest`s most revolting entry, designed and worn by a local Band Booster club member, had a sprung mousetrap-complete with dead mouse-for a tie tack.
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Most of those who had paid $1 for all four days` admission sported trendy wash-off tattoos supplied by resident Kevin Stringer.
”This is family time. It`s almost totally local,” said Dan Quick, a commissioner on the board of the Wauconda Park District that has put on the summer Waucondafest every year for 14 years.