2018/08/06 - Mayor's Column: City Fest
“An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from Mayor Herb Roach
While I was campaigning for Mayor, I walked the entire City of O’Fallon. I was determined to visit every O’Fallon resident and ask them about their city. One of the questions I heard most often was, “Why doesn’t O’Fallon have a community picnic?” I wasn’t able to provide a quality answer to the question, at that time. But, after being elected, I was able to help encourage a group of local citizens to get together and begin working on creating a new community event for O’Fallon.
That group of O’Fallon residents have been meeting over the past year to coordinate a new city-wide festival. This new event, called City Fest, is coming up soon. City Fest will be held on August 17th and 18th at the O’Fallon Community Park. City Fest is open to all. Events are scheduled to begin on Friday afternoon and extend throughout Saturday.
Activities, including food and refreshment stands, live music, games, rides, balloon rides, a climbing wall, and many other activities will be held in Community Park and will run 4 – 10 p.m. on Friday, August 17th and 12 p.m. – 10 p.m. on Saturday, August 18th. At 8 a.m. on Saturday, August 18th, all in the Community Park, there will be a City Fest car show, bike ride, and fun run.
The City Fest parade will kick off at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The route will begin on North Lincoln Avenue (near Old City Hall), travel down South Lincoln, and end near 7th street. The parade will include four bands (OTHS, Mascoutah, Belleville East, and the Shriners Drum and Bugle Corp.), six floats, two Shriner Mobile Units, and over 40 other entries. After the parade, everyone is encouraged to head back to Community Park and spend the night celebrating O’Fallon with their neighbors.
A very special thank you goes out to the individuals who stepped up and took lead of the planning: City Fest Chairs Alderman Bob Kueker, Alderman Dan Witt, and Megan Breeding; Advertising and Printing Chair Joni Bugger Fultz; Parade Chair Marcie Bugger Lapolice; Float Chair Roger Van Etten; Car Show Chair Sonny Sterthman; Bike Ride and Fun Run Chair Jon Greenstreet.
I also want to thank everyone that has been involved in the planning of City Fest. It is special to see an idea come to life. Thank you to all our volunteers who will be helping work City Fest. Lastly, I want to thank our sponsors, without your generosity, none of this would have been possible.
As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open!