Keith True and his family are big fans of building with LEGOs, so the LEGO train show on Saturday at the St. Charles Public Library was a perfect fit.
“We’re all fans of LEGOs. Our oldest son, Harrison, who is 9, it’s his birthday today and he wanted to see all of this,” True said as his wife Lauren and three children looked at about dozen displays at the event Saturday morning presented by the Northern Illinois LEGO Train Club.
Kelly Stulgate, the Youth Services manager for the St. Charles Public Library, said this was the first time club members were visiting the library for a show.
“There was a mutual interest in having them come here and do a show and we were able to connect with them,” she said. “The club is pretty busy, and we were lucky to get a spot.”
Stulgate believes there is a longstanding interest among many people when it comes to both LEGOs and trains, something Mark Anderson, vice president of the Northern Illinois LEGO Train Club, confirmed.
“We do about 10 shows a year and try to get all around the Chicago area. We usually have about a dozen displayers at each show, and everyone brings sort of their best stuff. It’s somewhere in the million-brick range,” Anderson said. “We’ve been around about 20 years, and are an adult club. We have people all over the place – men, women, a lot of ages. LEGO appeals to a broad swath and we have them all.”
Anderson said displays always vary but that the entire show gets connected with a train motif.
“Everybody sort of brings their own things – some bring cities, some spaceships, some will bring a giant Godzilla – it’s all made out of LEGO and we connect it all with LEGO trains going around the outside,” he said.
Shows normally draw pretty good crowds, Anderson noted, adding that attendance “can easily be between 500 and 1,000.”
“We’ve done shows where we have had as many as 6,000 over a weekend,” he said.
Anderson said building with LEGOs is a fun activity.
“It’s one of those things. I got back into it when my kids were little, and I started building with their LEGOs and they said, ‘Hey, knock it off,’ and I said, ‘Hey, it’s fun,’” Anderson said.
Jason Camlic said he has been with the club for over two years and brought a collection of planes he had built to the event on Saturday.
“I’ve been building just before COVID – maybe 2018 or 2019,” he said. “I did it as a kid. I went away from it for a few years and then I got back into it. I kind of like airplanes. It’s what I do, mostly. I probably do four or five shows a year. Most of the time, people ask me if these are LEGO kits and typically no, most of what all of us do are our own custom builds.”
True said he likes the fact that LEGOs offer something more than passive entertainment.
“I’d agree this is better than kids on screens. It allows them to use their hands and build something and not be glued to their devices and do something creative,” he said. “I know the people here made these things out of their own head and it’s pretty amazing how people can express their creativity through different means. It’s very cool to see.”
Brent Wilson of Villa Park came to the show on Saturday with his son.
When asked if he was a LEGO guy, Wilson readily answered, “Oh, I love LEGOs. I’ve always been a LEGO guy.”
“I’m not still building them but I’ll probably start up again with this guy, Bently, who is 2,” Wilson said as he looked at his young son. “To me, these continue to have a universal appeal because it brings to life the things we love and the freedom to build things, and the opportunity to create something fun is something that kids always love to do. The things they have here are incredible.”
Maria Provancal, Wilson’s wife, said she also likes LEGOs and “now that I work with kids I do it all the time.”
“I’m an occupational therapist in a school. I’m so OK once the kids start with this, knowing that it could become an obsession,” she said. “It’s so much better than all the screens. It builds fine motor skills and visual perception skills.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
