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A look back in time ...
The year was 1907. Lake Forest was a thriving community of a few thousand. Market Square wouldn't exist for another ten years, but there were many gracious homes in town, and the Onwentsia Club, the Winter Club, and Lake Forest College were already established. Electricity had just recently come to town. Automobiles were still for the adventurous (and affluent) few, although the city had already set a speed limit for its streets: eight miles an hour.
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| The carnival was just as much fun in 1958 as it is today! |
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In the summer of 1907 the Lake Forest Young Men’s Club held a successful community fair. Dr. Theodore Proxmire of the Young Men’s Club subsequently appeared before a meeting of the Lake Forest Women’s Club with a proposal that the Women’s Club organize an annual summer fair beginning in 1908.
After much discussion, the women decided to hold the fair, with two-thirds of the proceeds to go to the organization of a Contagious Hospital. The club's president, Dr. Elva Wright, went before the City Council and a group of businessmen to discuss the possibility of holding a large communitywide fair. With the help of the local businesses and community, the planning started.
On July 15, 1908, the first Lake Forest Day was held. What a day this was! There were booths of all types, selling hats, umbrellas, scarves, and candy, along with a large food tent. Illinois Governor Charles Deneen was scheduled to speak, but unfortunately he did not arrive and Judge Calhoun spoke instead. There were fortune tellers, gypsies, a mind-reading dog, and, at the end of the day, a vaudeville performance featuring Frank Lincoln.
One of the exciting highlights was a hot-air balloon ascension, with a man on a trapeze hanging from the balloon. At the end of the act he parachuted to the ground and landed safely on the grounds of the South School. Unfortunately, his name was never known.
The next year, 1909, the Young Men’s Club took over the running of Lake Forest Day. They needed money to purchase land and build a club house. The land they purchased became West Park and the Men’s Club Subdivision. The Club ran the event for the next several years.
In 1921, McKinlock Post 264 of the American Legion took over the planning and running of Lake Forest Day and has done so up until the present time.
Lake Forest Day was canceled in 1917 and 1918 because of World War I. In 1923 the day was delayed for two weeks because of the death of President Harding. It was canceled again in 1930 because of an “unsatisfactory financial situation.” Apart from those events, however, Lake Forest Day has continued strong for 100 years and remains today as a tribute to the vitality of the Lake Forest community and to the dedication of its many volunteers, especially the members of McKinlock Post 264.
