“It was really uplifting, to see things go great for the village, and for the merchants.”
Sharon Fine, executive director of the Long Grove Business and Community Partners, had a flurry of shining words to use when describing how this year’s Apple Fest went. All three of the organization’s weekend events enjoyed good weather and good turnouts this year, but the Apple Fest is usually the largest — and this year, it was huge.
Fine did not have attendance estimates on Monday, but observances showed crowded streets and long lines for apple doughnuts most of the weekend.
Fine pointed out the new focus on organized children’s activities on the Towner Green lawn, on the east corner of Old McHenry and Robert Parker Coffin roads.
“We were supposed to shut it down and have everything cleared off by 4,” she said of the Sunday afternoon crowd. “And the people just didn’t leave.”
The LGBCP and Long Grove’s Village Hall will have the rest of the fall and winter to analyze some of this year’s changes to the Strawberry, Chocolate and Apple festivals. The village agreed to let the bands play later into the night and close Robert Parker Coffin Road in the downtown area, making it a pedestrian walkway lined with food vendors.
Fine said what she at first thought was a problem with food vendors on Sunday turned out to actually be a success:
“I got a report that there were food tents closing early,” she said. “It was because they had sold out.
“I feel like this event really got things moving in the right direction,” she said.
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