Published: May 18, 2008 12:35 am         

Two area festivals mark 50 years

Organizers say the secret is in the BBQ sauce

DANVILLE — Two small towns in the area — one in Illinois and one Indiana — will mark a milestone this year when their longtime festivals mark 50 years.

The Sidell Lions Club will put on its 50th annual Lions Club Chicken Barbecue on June 14, while over in western Indiana the Hillsboro Booster Club features its 50th Beef Barbecue Sept. 5-6.

“It takes a whole lot of people to put on a festival,” said Allen Orndorff of the Sidell Lions Club. “The Lions Club members put in a lot of work.”

The signature event is the chicken barbecue cooked right out on the street in the heart of Sidell.

“It takes a lot of preparation,” he said. “Local businesses help out.”

Orndorff said the event draws people from throughout Vermilion, Champaign, Douglas and Edgar counties.

Orndorff said the barbecue features a large parade, which he anticipates will be even bigger this year.

“We have a midway and kiddie tractor pull,” he said. “This year we will have a fireworks display.”

The fireworks will be a first for the one-day festival.

Proceeds from the festival go to Lions Club eyeglasses projects.

“We take the money and buy glasses for kids who need them,” Orndorff said.

Over in Hillsboro, the Booster Club wants to bring back some of the activities that have dropped over the years, according to club President Mark McGrady.

“We have said we would start planning to do something special,” McGrady said.

Among the possibilities are a queen contest, go-kart races and a talent show.

Children’s games have been a specialty during the two-day event. McGrady remembers those activities when he was a child growing up in Hillsboro.

“We want people to come and enjoy the festival,” McGrady said. “We are really kid friendly.”

The selling of beef barbecue sandwiches has been the staple.

“One of the things that helped us survive for the first 30 years was that the beef was cooked by the Boosters,” McGrady said.

Now the beef is purchased elsewhere, but the Boosters still provide the special secret sauce that gives it a distinctive taste.

The Boosters use the proceeds for community projects.

“We are raising money for the (Rose Hill) cemetery,” he said. “The long-term goal is a trust fund. We want to the get the cemetery real spruced up.”

The Beef Barbecue skipped 1973, but it has not missed another year since it started in 1958.

“Some town festivals don’t last,” McGrady said. “Having a good start helps and selling a product they enjoy.”