It isn’t often that you can check out a modern police jail cell, talk with the men and women who serve and protect you, munch on a hot dog, then walk a few steps into the 19th century history of your town – including a 19th century jail cell – and finish off your tour with a pickle roll race.
You can do all those things and more on May 1 at the annual Open House celebrations at the Wilmette Police Department and the Wilmette Historical Museum.
The joint open houses, to be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., are a family-friendly Wilmette tradition, allowing visitors to tour both police headquarters at 710 Ridge Road and the museum at 609 Ridge Road.
The Police Department’s open house dates back to 1968, when the department opened its Ridge Road facility. The historical museum began participating later, according to Director Kathy Hussey-Arntson.
“I was chatting with somebody over at the department and we were talking about how there’s just half a block between us, joking that we have an old jail cell and they had modern cells, and we thought, ‘Oh, we could do an open house together,'” she said.
This year’s open house features a pickle theme, Hussey-Arntson said, in honor of Wilmette’s first mayor John G. Westerfield, whose extended family grew cucumbers and produced pickles. Visitors can take part in the first-ever pickle roll across the museum’s lawn at 1:15 p.m., she said, after a free outdoor concert at 12 p.m., courtesy of the Wilmette Community Band.
Children can visit one of the original jail cells used in the 19th century, since the museum is housed in what once was the village hall and police department of Gross Point, a village west of Ridge Road that consolidated with Wilmette in the early 1900s. They can also have a cookie, courtesy of the museum, Hussey-Arntson said.
Visitors can also play Wilmette Bingo and see the museum’s current exhibits, “The Sixties” and “The Wide World of Fashion.”
At the police station, visitors can have tours of the department, including the lockup and firearms range. They can view displays by the Northeast Illinois Regional Crime Lab, the Regional SWAT Team, and the U.S. Coast Guard, as well canine unit presentations, among others.
Parents can bring their cameras and have police shoot “mug shots” of their children, and the department will offer free hot dogs for lunch, courtesy of the Wilmette Optimist Club, according to information from the department.
For more information on the open houses, visit www.wilmette.com