Residents of the town of St. John, along with hundreds of people from surrounding communities braved the threat of incoming storms and flocked to the Annual Corn Roast.
A community staple, the Corn Roast has been held for 13 straight years. The event – held on the lawn at the Community Outpatient Center, located at 9660 Wicker Ave in St. John – saw dozens of vendors, hundreds of visitors and even a DJ and a demonstration of the St. John police department K9 unit.
Made possible by the generous sponsorship of companies such as Strack and Van Til, Realty Executives Premier, Community Outpatient Center and many others, the event is a long-running and beloved tradition to the area.
Gina Fezler, president of St. John Chamber of Commerce expressed her gratitude to everyone who came together to make this year’s event possible. “This is a dual event, between the St. John Chamber and Tri-Town Rotary. It’s a 50-50 partnership and a 100% fundraiser for us. All money raised goes directly into the scholarship funds for both the St. John Chamber and the Rotary Club,” said Fezler.
Click here to see all the photos from the St. John Chamber Corn Roast.
Chamber scholarships benefit residents of St. John.
“This year, we gave out four $1,000 scholarships to St. John residents,” Fezler told Ideas In Motion Media. “Scholarship criteria is based on academic excellence, along with volunteerism or community involvement, and candidates need only be high school seniors who live in St. John.”
Fezler also noted the help and involvement of the 33 vendors who came out to the Corn Roast, offering goods and services such as insurance, hand-crafted jewelry, bean bag games, discounts to local businesses, blood pressure checks and even a bouncy house, provided by the Lions Club and St. John chamber member Bouncy Butts.
“We would like to thank the community and our volunteers, our sponsors and our vendors who make this all possible. The hard work of our committee, and especially the community for coming out and making this event such a success year after year,” said Fezler.
Carla Candlish and Pat Felski, Crown Point residents, were enjoying some fresh ears of corn at the roast. “We come here every year,” said Candish. “This is my favorite event of this type in the area. The people here are very nice, very helpful. The food is fresh and tastes great and the lines aren’t too long.”
“This event here is just perfect,” Felski added.
Cindy Green, State Farm agent and Silver-Level sponsor of the Corn Roast was proud to be a first-time participant.
“We are very proud to be here today,” said Green. “We’re Chamber members and we’re happy to be here today to offer help and advice. This is a great opportunity to meet a lot of terrific, friendly people from the community. This is our first year and so far it’s just been super fun!”
As the evening wound on, other activities included a talent contest, which featured an open mike stage where local people could showcase their singing, or even play the keyboard as the hungry residents lined up to fill their plates with delicious ears of corn.
The evening was however cut a bit short, as the storm clouds that had loomed overhead for most of the afternoon finally burst open. People rushed to their cars and vendors hurried to take down their tents as lightning flashed in the distance, but even though the rain eventually came, it was too late to dampen the spirits of those who had come out to enjoy the day, and another great Corn Roast was already in the books.