mike hinken rules!!!
Festival invokes known name, little else
Good Neighbor Day a new one-day music festival
July 19, 2001
By MIKE HINKEN
of the Journal Star
WASHINGTON - Good Neighbor Day 2001 borrows its name from the late summer festival once held in Washington.
But that's about where the similarities end.
The Saturday event will have none of the carnival rides, kiddie tractor pulls or sand volleyball games that made Washington's Good Neighbor Days - now since changed to the Cherry Festival - a popular yearly event.
Instead, Good Neighbor Day 2001 will be a daylong celebration of music. Four of the six bands invited to play have members that hail from Washington.
"We want the people of Washington to come and to enjoy music as much as we do," said Adam Stevens, an organizer of the event. "A bunch of friends got together and wanted to do something for the local bands. There are a lot of local bands people don't know about, and the town really doesn't do anything for them."
The Fillabustas, 7Star, Nimbus and R.I.D. all have band members from Washington and will play during the event. Also onstage will be Asphyxia and Pushbutton, whose band members hail from Peoria, East Peoria, Morton and Tremont.
Music styles among the groups range from acoustic rock to hip-hop to punk, Stevens said.
"It will be an atmosphere of music and fun. The main thing is to give these bands the hometown recognition they deserve," Stevens said.
Stevens and a loosely organized group of fellow college students are putting their own money into the event, which will be held on private property east of town.
There will be free food and root beer, as well as croquet, a Slip 'N Slide and video games set up for entertainment. Donations will be accepted.
Stevens said he would like Good Neighbor Day 2001 to be an annual event, adding that he has discussed the idea of hosting it at a Washington park in the future.
David Peak, director of the Washington Park District, said the park district board would be open to a proposal from Stevens.
"We would have to know the details of what he wants to do exactly, but I think the board would be willing to consider a proposal from him," Peak said.
The original Good Neighbor Days festival ended in 1998 after 14 years. The next year, the annual festival adopted a cherry theme as a nod to the well-known legend associated with the town's namesake, George Washington.
Shortly after the name change, Sherri Killian became co-director of the Washington Chamber of Commerce, which has sponsored both summer festivals. Drawing more festivalgoers from outside Washington was a key reason for the switch from Good Neighbor Days to the Cherry Festival, she said.
"The name Good Neighbor Days was seen as being limited to the Washington community, as if promoting those in the community to be good neighbors to each other. People from outside the community would think, 'There's nothing for me, it's just for the community of Washington,' " Killian said.
"The Cherry Festival lets us have things like the cherry pit spitting contest, a cherry bake-off and other sorts of things that bring people into Washington to see what it has to offer. It's partly an economic development tool."
Killian added that a Neighbor of the Year award is still given each year at the Cherry Festival.
Stevens said Good Neighbor Day 2001 was so named, not as a protest, but to take advantage of the good reputation generated by the original Good Neighbor Days.
"It's not being used anymore and it's associated with fun," Stevens said. "We just dropped the 's' because ours is only a day."
Good Neighbor Day 2001 will be from 3 to 8 p.m. July 21 at 2302 Eureka Road. Alcohol is prohibited, and organizers are encouraging carpooling due to parking limitations.
7/19/01: To get to the actual pjstar.com article on their website, click HERE !!!
(If the link doesn't work, go to www.pjstar.com, and on the left side of the page, click on 'Neighbors'. Then click on the article titled, "Festival invokes known name, little else", enjoy!!
