by Chairman Patrick J. Burley
Ribfest 1992 started with a pre-event party for volunteers that included members from the band, Kansas. Great time was had by everyone with a lot of excitement about the opening on July 2.
The Executive Committee was scheduled to meet at 1:30PM to review final details for the Thursday night opening. All of us were excited as our Sponsorship sales effort had increased to a new level and it provided a number of colorful cold air balloons on the grounds to recognize the Sponsors. “As we stood behind the Park District barn, a severe thunderstorm, with very high winds, swept across the area. In an effort to save all of the balloons, the members of the Executive Committee attempted to hold the balloons down, but each of us was dragged across the park.
This quick-hitting storm caused damage to a number of our Rib vendor stands, our concession tents and the sponsors’ balloons. This damage caused us to cancel the evening events and Ribfest experienced its first closure due to weather. Our volunteers worked into the night to get things back in order for the opening the next day and Ribfest 1992 turned into a tremendous success. Ribfest 1992 exceeded all revenue goals and the Exchange Club was able to fund our partners to help eliminate child abuse in all forms at the highest level.
On the lighter side, the Naperville Police had to request the Ribfest Chairman and the Immediate Past President of the Exchange Club to discontinue using the “big” slide at 2AM! They were not amused with all of the fun we were having!
