Sunday was a day of cars and crafts as the Kendall County Fair Association offered its Fall Fest at the Kendall County Fairgrounds in Yorkville.
Vince Klapperich of Yorkville declared that having two separate attractions was the best of both worlds.
“My wife gets to check out the craft show and I get to look at cars,” he said. “For me with cars the older, the better. I’m a ’60s Chevy guy but I also enjoy the ’50s pickup trucks and I like the old ’40s and the bubble cars. I’m just a classic car guy in general.”
In addition to a classic car show, the craft vendor market at the event offered handmade goods and crafts. In addition, there was music provided by the group Carousel Sound, food vendors and family activities at the fest.
Hailee Dannenberg, office manager of the Kendall County Fairgrounds, said this was the sixth annual Fall Fest, which was first launched in 2019 and interrupted soon after due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event, she said, “was to get people out and doing something, especially after COVID.”
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“We wanted people to get out and enjoy things as a family – fun activities where they could bring their grandparents and grandkids and do like a family Sunday, hang-out style,” she said. “That was the main push to start it as well as get more community vendors involved and support our local businesses.”
This year, Dannenberg said over 35 food and craft vendors took part in the event, “which is close to the largest number we’ve had.”
Yorkville resident Joanne La Rue of Jo Jo’s Jewelry and Jem’s showed off a unique style of bracelets at the fest she said “were made out of old silver forks and spoons.”
“This is my second time here and these are bracelets made of spoons and forks and I drill them and make them,” she said. “When I explain to people what these are they are surprised to learn what they are made of.
“I was at a craft fair years ago and an old woman had them out and I bought one and was fascinated with it and I researched this and got all the equipment to make them,” she added. “I’ve been doing it like for six or seven years and have made maybe more than a couple hundred.”
Meanwhile at the car show, Ron Fleming of Yorkville said he came last year to the event and that while he hasn’t ever owned a vintage car himself, “I just like looking at them.”
“I think people like this kind of thing because the cars are well-built and better than the ones we have today,” he said. “I just like the way they are shaped. I came from Florida and every Friday or Saturday they’d have a car show and I try to make it to shows when I can.”
Bill Shick of Plano brought a ’73 Dodge Charger to the fest and when asked how many cars he has owned in his life his answer was brief.
“Too many,” he said while looking at his car and also a truck owned by his father which was parked next to his Dodge. “My dad was into this. He infected me with this, absolutely. He got us started as kids. People like his retro stuff because they love American muscle.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.