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northbrooktower.com news<br />
the northbrook tower | October 18, 2018 | 3<br />
Northbrook community comes out for Autumnfest<br />
Hilary Anderson<br />
Freelance Reporter<br />
The fall season is a favorite<br />
time of year for<br />
many in Northbrook.<br />
And one reason why<br />
is the Northbrook Park<br />
District’s annual Autumn<br />
Festival, held Saturday,<br />
Oct. 13, at Meadowhill<br />
Park.<br />
The event continues to<br />
have much to offer and<br />
brings the community<br />
closer together.<br />
Northbrook families<br />
and friends began streaming<br />
into the park area soon<br />
after it started. Mother<br />
Nature helped by gracing<br />
the community with<br />
a cool but warmer day, no<br />
rain, or threat of it and total<br />
sunshine.<br />
“We estimate there<br />
were more than a thousand<br />
people here at the<br />
Meadowhill Park for the<br />
Autumn Festival,” said<br />
Katie Kotloski, of the<br />
Northbrook Park District.<br />
“The parking areas were<br />
almost completely full all<br />
afternoon.”<br />
There was much to see<br />
and do, including many<br />
new attractions.<br />
A seven-foot scarecrow<br />
greeted guests as they<br />
walked in and graciously<br />
stood still for photos.<br />
A special photo area featuring<br />
items of the season<br />
— cornstalks, pumpkins,<br />
gourds and bales of hay —<br />
arranged artfully so guests<br />
could sit and capture their<br />
memories of the day.<br />
Across the field were inflatables<br />
including a huge<br />
haunted house. The long<br />
line to enter the haunted<br />
house was similar to one<br />
for free popcorn from<br />
the old-fashion popcorn<br />
wagon, courtesy of Sunset<br />
Foods.<br />
Waiting outside was a<br />
long line of youngsters<br />
wanting to make that trip<br />
into the haunted house<br />
plus others who already<br />
had done so.<br />
Not far from the haunted<br />
house was the balloon<br />
man who knew how to<br />
make huge spiders with<br />
a big body and legs to<br />
match it.<br />
“This balloon man is<br />
the best I have ever seen,”<br />
said Tom Huske, who was<br />
holding his daughter Aubrey’s<br />
black spider along<br />
with a sword.<br />
There was a pumpkin<br />
patch where youngsters<br />
chose the perfect pumpkin,<br />
decorating it at a<br />
nearby tent and making it<br />
an official jack-o-lantern.<br />
The best-decorated pumpkin<br />
at the end of the festival<br />
received a prize. Harry<br />
Hsu won first place in the<br />
pumpkin decorating contest.<br />
Close to the pumpkin<br />
patch area, guests obtained<br />
the necessary items<br />
to toast marshmallows<br />
by the bonfire and make<br />
s’mores.<br />
“Roasting marshmallows<br />
is the greatest thing<br />
ever,” said Mason Friedman,<br />
7. “I like s’mores.”<br />
His sister, Braedyn,<br />
9, put part of a s’mores<br />
into her mouth and could<br />
barely talk with the melted<br />
marshmallow she was<br />
eating.<br />
“This Northbrook Autumn<br />
Festival is great,”<br />
said Marcy Friedman,<br />
their grandmother who<br />
brought them to the event.<br />
“The kids are having fun<br />
and it is a blast.”<br />
The microphone crackled<br />
and two witches,<br />
dressed appropriately for<br />
the occasion, announced<br />
they were about to start<br />
Max Thompson, 10, of Northbrook, is nothing but smiles with a Ball Python on his head Saturday, Oct. 13, at the<br />
Northbrook Park District’s Autumnfest. Photos by Scott Margolin/22nd Century Media<br />
Jack, and Sam Sweas, of Northbrook, smile with their<br />
pumpkins.<br />
another story time.<br />
The witches, Heather<br />
Benveniste and Holly<br />
Weis, sisters who both<br />
grew up in Northbrook,<br />
have done park district<br />
shows for the community.<br />
They volunteered to be<br />
storytellers for the event.<br />
“We both went to Glenbrook<br />
North,” said Weis,<br />
an opthamologist by day.<br />
“This kind of event<br />
brings everyone together,”<br />
said Benveniste, a<br />
lawyer when not performing.<br />
“This event is so awesome.”<br />
Another crowd attraction<br />
was the reptile show.<br />
Also popular among the<br />
youngsters were the crafts.<br />
Face-painting still held<br />
its popularity as was evident<br />
by those in line waiting<br />
their turn.<br />
Families gather around the campfire.<br />
Abby Andrews, 11, tried<br />
the new Pumpkin Chuckin<br />
game. It involved using<br />
a big, person-size sling<br />
shot and seeing how far<br />
one could “fling” a small<br />
pumpkin or gourd.<br />
A traditional ride on the<br />
hay wagon was a must<br />
and enjoyed by all who<br />
climbed aboard.<br />
A relatively new game,<br />
Pumpkin Soccer, attracted<br />
a crowd of its own — and it<br />
quickly was one of the most<br />
sought-after activities.<br />
Michael Schyman, a<br />
Northbrook Park District<br />
board member, enjoyed<br />
the game’s fun nature with<br />
his son, Ari.<br />
“I love seeing the kids<br />
having fun,” Schyman<br />
said. “This Fall Festival<br />
event provides a great experience<br />
for everyone.”
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