The annual Spring Fest Expo, presented by the Lake Villa/Lindenhurst/Round Lake Area (LLR) Chamber of Commerce, returned Saturday.
The six-hour event was held in the gym at Lakes Community High School in Lake Villa, featuring 30 exhibitors and more than 200 attendees.
“We did it every year for quite a while, but then this thing called COVID came along,” LLR chamber executive director Mike Aukerman said. “It actually feels a little weird because it’s been gone so long.
“It’s like it’s a new event, but at the same time it’s not,” he said. “It’s just there was a big gap. Everybody here is very glad we started up again.
“I, personally, am disappointed that we don’t have more exhibitors, but I talked to a lot of people and I got the same answer… ‘I’d love to be there, but I’m understaffed. I don’t have anybody that can be at a booth, and if I come myself I have to close my store for the day.’”
“It’s a symptom of COVID,” Aukerman added. “All of this seemed to come around when COVID hit us. There’s just no workers.”
The LLR chamber has an estimated 175 members, adding 50 in 2022, then 40 in 2023.
“We’ve already added 20 this year,” Aukerman said. “A few years ago, we were the Lake Villa/Lindenhurst Chamber of Commerce. The Round Lake Area Chamber of Commerce was separate and they were going bankrupt. So they came to us and said, ‘Could we talk about merging?’”
On Saturday, families stopped at tables to learn about new window installations or chat with community organization representatives, such as those from the Lindenhurst Park District.
“That’s why we come to these things, to get in touch with the people who we want to serve and make sure they know about us,” Park District director of recreation Kate Kotloski. “That’s how you build community.”
Among those in attendance were Lindenhurst royalty, Junior Miss Lindenhurst 2023 Ivy Catania, 12, and Miss Lindenhurst 2023 Danika Huff, 16, a junior at Lakes Community High School. The two will reign until the end of August.
Having an expo is, “really important so that businesses can reach out to our community, and that we can all come closer as a community together,” Huff said.
Giveaways included a filled tote bag at the gym entrance. Lunch was available, and many tables offered free candy and trinkets.
Emily Penn of Lindenhurst watched children Caleb, 9, and Lily, 5, use two large inflatables on which youngsters could jump.
“It’s really nice,” she said. “Glad that they brought it back.”
LLR chamber members Assured Healthcare Staffing and Assured Care at Home of Gurnee had a table staffed by Leslie Kischer, president and owner, Chris Hammerlund, who founded the business in 2007, and Kim Menheer, office manager.
“You can’t build relationships if you don’t get that interaction,” Menheer said. “It’s important.”
Menheer offered a hug to friend and former colleague Beatriz Banda of Lake Villa.
“I’m a hugger,” Menheer said. “With her (Banda) knowing that I recognized her, and I remembered her, she was as receiving of that hug as I was giving, which means that I didn’t forget about her. That relationship is important.”
Banda represented Lake Villa’s Prince of Peace Roman Catholic Church and its school to bolster awareness and school enrollment.
The Archdiocese of Chicago announced on March 21 that despite a fundraising campaign, St. Bede School in Ingleside will close at the end of this school year due to low registration for next school year.
Prince of Peace Catholic School is about an 11-minute drive to St. Bede School for St. Bede families seeking a northern Lake County Catholic school option, she said.
“We welcome them with open arms,” Banda said. “We’re right next door. We’re their neighbors. We’re their family.
“We like to support each other,” she continued. “We’re here with open arms to St. Bede’s and anybody else that wants to come over to Prince of Peace. It’s a family.”
