wes huett rules
Youthapalooza
story and photos by wes huett/times newspapers
At about 3 p.m. Saturday, Adam Stevens sat beside a small wooden stage on a private lot just east of Washington. Dressed in a black sweat-drenched T-shirt and baggy shorts, he smiled as he tapped his foot to the alternative rock stylings of local band PushButton.
"Good Neighbor Day 2001" was under way, and Stevens, 20, the festival's organizer finally had a moment to relax --something he hadn't done all day.
"I had to go to Champaign this morning and get the root beer keg," said Stevens smiling, adding that many last-minute preparations kept him running around all morning. "But, I'm trying to enjoy it."
GND is the brainchild of Stevens and a few of his friends, who've been working for months to organize the one-day musical event.
After all the planning, Stevens and his friends' hard work paid off in the form of the one-day, seven-band event.
A 1999 graduate of Washington Community High School, Stevens wanted to bring back a name synonymous with fun. The 2001 version of GND has nothing but the name in common with the older Good Neighbor Days, which became the Cherry Festival in 1999.
Except the fun.
The attitude on the two-acre festival grounds seemed youthful and carefree, yet nostalgic.
Youth of all ages -- about 50-100 in number as the music started around 3 p.m. -- lounged around the site, eating food and enjoying cool drinks amid the near 100-degree heat.
However, as time passed, more cars streamed onto the main lot, filling it to near-capacity.
Soon the numbers swelled to over 100, and reached to about 200 at their peak, said Stevens. He said over 300 attended throughout the day.
A yellow and white canopy tent housed most of the crowd, as they sought a cool place from the sticky summer weather. Others tossed around a frisbee or football, while others -- for old times' sake -- enjoyed a game of Super Mario Bros. or Duck Hunt on an orginal Nintendo Entertainment System hooked up on a television along side a shade tree.
Casey DeFauw, 19, a friend of Stevens, manned the grill during the more than five-hour festival.
"I volunteered to bring the grill -- because I'm the grill guy," DeFauw said laughing. Dressed in a light-colored shirt, shorts and no shoes, the relaxed DeFauw said he jumped at the chance to be involved with the youth-organized music fest.
"Adam came to me and said he was thinking of putting on a huge concert," he said. "I thought, 'Cool. Great idea. I'll bring the grill."
Not only was there free food at the event, along with the root beer -- there was the music.
Ranging for alternative rocking PushButton kicking off the festivities, follwed by girl rockers Asphyxia, GND2001 featured hip-hop with the Filibustas and Wednesday Society, and a bit of a hard-rock with Nimbus. The bands R.I.D. and Sevenstar finished out the festival, with the latter's stage time set to a torrential downpour.
"They were just going crazy," Stevens said as the skies opened up for Sevenstar. "We pulled the slip-n-slide out front and had a great time."
While the grounds at the home of Alan and Mary Jo Grebner were drenched, nothing could dampen the festival-goers sunny attitudes, said Stevens.
"I've received nothing but positive response," he said. "Some of the bands said they've been in other festivals and the way ours ran was one of the smoothest. That's kind of cool, because this is the first one we've put on."
The lead singer of PushButton, Steve Goggins, said he was happy to oblige Stevens when asked to kick-off the festival.
"This was all about having a good time and you can't beat that," Goggins, 19, said, as a towel around his neck absorbed the sweat accumulated during his band's eight-song set. "It's great. You have a root beer keg, some lemonade and a good time -- it's really positive."
Goggins said he and his three bandmates most likely will be back next year if asked -- and as one can see by Stevens' Web site header, which already has 2002 on it, there will be a GND next year.
In fact, Stevens attended the Washington City Council meeting on Monday and already lobbied to get the festival moved to public property and extended to more than double the duration.(*i just found out the next meeting is Aug. 6th, so we'll find out then.)
"We're already looking to next year,"Stevens said. "We're just going to go and see what the city can do, because it's something all the people of Washington would like."
When asked if there would be any changes in format come 2002, Stevens replied. "Just make it bigger and better."
For more information on GND, visit their Web site at www.angelfire.com/home/goodneighborday/.
nice article wes. . thanks
*my note: i am scheduled to meet with washington high school and city officials in this next week to speak about a possible location next year.
Possible locations so far:
the town square, the high school, the park district shelters, or even back to private property.
these are just hopefuls, nothing definite, so we'll see how things turn out. talk to people if you can and see what all we can get going for next year. i can't wait!
. . . aloha
