Huntley hosts higher and healthier fireworks show
HUNTLEY, Il – Huntley’s Labor Day Weekend fireworks show will be watched by people in their cars instead of on blankets beneath the stars.
Set for Saturday, Sept. 5, the show is planned as a socially distanced event with higher and bigger explosions that can be seen from miles away.
Labeled by the village as a “drive-in fireworks show,” the display will be centered in Deicke Park but with expectations that residents as far away as the Walmart parking lot, Sun City and the Sew Hop’d Brewery will be enjoying the show while observing proper social distancing inside their automobiles.
Originally scheduled for the Fourth of July, the traditional fireworks show was canceled due to restrictions on large gatherings issued by the Illinois Department of Public Health and Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office. The drive-in show was designed to meet the restrictions but give people some diversion, according to Barb Read, the village’s special events coordinator.
“Our residents are really dying for something to do right now, so this is the next best thing,” she said.
Another victim of the coronavirus is the Huntley Fall Festival, which had been scheduled for Sept. 25-27 but has been canceled. After being rained out for nearly the entire festival last year, this year’s cancellation could put the festival in a financial bind, but organizers say they expect it will be back in September, 2021.
On Saturday, some traffic will be allowed into the parking lots at the park, but only those accessed from Mill Street. Lois Lane will be one-way off Main Street, but traffic will be stopped before the park with cars allowed to park only on the west side of the street, leaving room for a maximum of 70 cars. Also, the park entrance to the lots off Route 47 at the Discovery Zone will be closed to traffic.
The village published a link to a map of parking at Diecke Park.
The parking lots will be opened at 5 p.m., and no one will be allowed to save parking spaces for others. The show will start around 8 p.m., or at dusk.
“We estimate 465 cars within the park confines,” said Huntley Police Deputy Chief Mike Klunk.
Because of restrictions issued by the state limiting the size of gatherings and recommendations for social distancing, the village will not allow foot traffic in the area. The pedestrian path from Lion’s Chase subdivision into Diecke Park will be blocked and police officers on bicycles will patrol the park and the parking lots to keep people from gathering.
“We’re not going to allow people to congregate in certain areas like on the Fourth of July,” Klunk said. As for people in the surrounding subdivisions where neighbors have gathered in the past in yards and the street to watch the displays, he said, “Social distancing is the key, (but) we’re not going to be going house to house to inspect parties.”
Read said she’s hoping for cooperation from residents to make the fireworks a fun and safe diversion. She said she doesn’t expect it will rival the crowds that have watched Fourth of July fireworks in the past, and Klunk noted neighboring Lake in the Hills is planning a fireworks display at the same time this weekend, which could help limit the Huntley crowd.
In addition to blocking the entrances to the park off Route 47, she said, the village will restrict traffic into neighboring subdivisions to try to keep people from parking on those streets.
Klunk said a handful of volunteers from the Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association will help his officers direct traffic on the streets leading to the lots and in the lots themselves. They will complement officers from the patrol division to keep everyone safe and orderly.
Restrooms will be available to people parking in the lots, but the village is requiring that anyone leaving their car to use the facilities must wear a facemask and maintain social distancing. No dogs will be allowed, and no food vendors will be present so people are encouraged to bring their own snacks, as well as garbage bags to take the trash home with them.
To help keep everyone spread out, Mad Bomber Fireworks Productions will be using 8-inch shells. The village asked that they eliminate the ground works and elevate the show with higher and bigger explosions. Read said the height and size of the fireworks ensures that people can watch at a good distance from the park, helping with social distancing and limiting the size of the gathering.
Helping add to Saturday’s celebration will be Huntley Community Radio 101.5FM, which will offer up traffic information before the event and patriotic music timed to the explosions during the fireworks show.
