Oak Lawn will revise its Fall on the Green festival in September to be for adults only due to teenagers and adolescents becoming unruly at the festival last year.
“Teens and sadly tweens have become more disruptive, almost dangerous,” said Oak Lawn village manager Tom Phelan.
They have thrown pumpkins, been fighting and not respecting authority at the festival, he said.
One 11-year-girl used vulgarities in talking to a police officer, a village official said.
Village Board member Paul Mallo said much of the festival, typically held the weekend after Labor Day, will be similar, with live music and food for sale. But the children’s activities and games could be shifted to other summer events, such as the Sunday concerts.
The details still are being discussed, Mallo said.
This year’s fall festival, at the Village Green near 95th Street and Cook Avenue, will be fenced off and restricted to people age 18 and older. It will be strictly enforced, Mallo said.
The idea is a great solution, Phelan said.
“There will be changes. We are hoping these changes will be accepted,” he said.
The village and the Oak Lawn Park District will continue to offer child-oriented activities, such as Friday night movies, and the Fourth of July Parade, which will be held on Saturday, July 2 in Oak Lawn this year.
Groups and businesses who would like to march in the parade can contact Deanne Adasiak at the village by sending an email to [email protected].
Egg hunts
The Oak Lawn Park District will have its annual Easter Egg Hunt for children, but this year is adding an adult egg hunt from 7-8 p.m. April 2, at the Stony Creek Golf Course, 5850 W. 103rd St. Participants must be 21 or older.
For a $30 admission fee, each participant will receive an empty six-pack, which they can fill with six different colored plastic eggs. The eggs are scattered about the golf course, and the colors represent prizes of different values, from $5 to $50, said recreation supervisor Scott Gray.
With six different colored eggs, each person will receive a prize in each price category, with a combined value greater than $30, Gray said.
The prizes include gift cards for park district activities, such as a free round of mini-golf, a free swim or skate, tickets to the Windy City ThunderBolt baseball games, and gift cards for other area businesses.
The admission price also includes one free drink during the egg hunt at Stony Creek.
The capacity is 50 participants and 20 people have registered as of March 22, Gray said. Registration, which can be done online at www.olparks.com or at any of the park district facilities, other than Stony Creek Golf Course, closes March 30.
The idea of an adults only egg hunt was presented at the Illinois Association of Park Districts and Illinois Park and Recreation Association’s conference in January, Gray said.
Kimberly Fornek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.