Evanston Lighthouse Rotary Club partnered with Main-Dempster Mile to host the Welcome Back to Main Street Fall Fest on Sunday, a celebration of Main Street that reintroduced the community to its local business after three years of construction.
The event featured an array of fall festivities on both the 500 and 700 blocks of Main Street, including chair massages, live music, pumpkin crafting, other arts activities and booths from local businesses and artists. Vendors such as Firehouse Grill and Belgian Chocolatier Piron catered for the attendees.
Main Street has experienced near-constant construction in the past few years, including roadway resurfacing, streetscape improvements and landsca
ping, all of which have limited access to local businesses. Main-Dempster Executive Director Mile Katherine Gotsick said this construction impeded business.
“There were many weeks when businesses had literally no sidewalks in front of them,” Gotsick said. “They would just have pounded gravel in front of their stores. It was very uninviting. It was very hard to navigate.”
Gotsick said the goal of the event was two-fold: to increase traffic to local businesses and to announce the return of the annual street fair, once called the Custer Street Fair, in June of next year.
Many business owners who had booths at Fall Fest echoed the need to reacquaint the community with Main Street.
Abby Dan (Weinberg ’05), co-owner of Booked, an independent bookstore on Main Street, said she’s pleased with the construction’s end result, though it was difficult to keep merchandise clean and sellable due to the dust.
“In the end, they did a good job,” Dan said. “The street looks great. We’re really happy with it, and it’s been really wonderful to see how the community has come out.”
Booked’s booth featured a “crazy sale table,” a book accessory table including “blind dates with books” — pre-wrapped books intended to negate the influence of the title or cover.
Owner of In Fine Fettle Holistic Health Center and Wellness Boutique Lori Howell said the event felt celebratory. It was great to have the street open to foot traffic again, she said.
Howell’s booth featured pain relief tinctures, handmade skin and hair products, and the work of a local artist.
Evanston residents who attended the event, including Cecilia Ackmann, were similarly excited to freely enjoy the refurbished street.
“It’s just fun to be at a beautiful day in the neighborhood, and also just to be with each other, eating good food,” Ackmann said.
Shortly after noon, Evanston resident Patty Nitto cut a ribbon signifying the official opening of her new business, The Vintage Cat, located at 502 Main St. It’s a consignment shop aimed at “reusing, repurposing (and) going back and just appreciating what once was,” she said.
While Nitto did not originally plan on opening the store this weekend, she was excited that the opening coincided with the festival, she said.
“Everyone’s been loving it,” Nitto said. “I’m really glad. It’s crazy how this worked out. Perfect is right. It’s like a miracle.”
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