Minooka Summerfest kicks off Thursday

MINOOKA – Downtown Minooka was a mecca for local teens watching their peers battle it out for the title of Minooka Teen Music Fest champion.

Six bands from the area took the stage to compete against one another for prizes that included a $100 cash prize and the coveted headliner spot at next year’s fest. The event Thursday kicked off Minooka Summerfest.

The night began with an open mic session, inviting teens to show off acoustic abilities. Sisters Carmella and Nora Russell belted out a variety of music, with Carmella strumming the ukulele.

“We aren’t an organized group, we just like to sing as a family,” Carmella said.

The lead organizer of this event, Kyle McComb, said this year is different from years past because of the variety of music the bands are playing.

“We have bands that play anything from ’60s Beatles type music, to metal, classic rock, blues and reggae. I have a feeling that this was the best lineup since the festival started,” McComb said.

New to the festival, Nick Kemp-Bystrzycki, Tony Tessari and Luke Pope, of the band Fixed Emotion, caught the attention of teens and parents alike with their blues cover music. The group hopes to showcase their original work soon.

“We all three like to write. We all collaborate by texting lines back and forth and by the end of the night, we have a song,” lead vocalist Kemp-Bystrzycki said.

Not new to the local band scene is group Wombo Combo, its members being Jackie Russell, Mike Potoniec, Jordan Nelson, Izzy Perez and Justin Weed. Russell screams the group’s original hard rock and metal lyrics, while bandmates keep up on the drums, bass, guitar, and rhythm guitar.

Weed said the music is all about the stories, stating one of the songs stemmed from stories about Nelson’s grandfather who was in the war.

McComb said this is the event’s fourth year, and this year a cash prize will be given to the band voted the best by the crowd. At the entrance, revelers received a ticket for voting purposes with their $5 admission.

The six bands featured were 2014 champions The Meandering Cranberries, The Monocle Project, How & Why, Wombo Combo, Fixed Emotion and Pessimist Prime.

This festival kicked off the weekend of festivities for Minooka Summerfest, sponsored by the Minooka Lions Club. Summerfest is an annual event in downtown Minooka each June. The main street downtown, Mondamin, will be closed down Saturday so the community can enjoy a variety of activities.

Promoter Scott Lemke of the Minooka Lions Club said this year is full of fun for the entire family. Saturday kicks off with a 5K race and a kids fun run, along with a kids parade.

On Mondamin and side streets, there will be booths of arts and crafts for sale, food vendors with homemade corn dogs and ice cold lemonade, as well as a kiddie game area with inflatables, climbing walls and games.

In the lower parking lot, the stage is set for a variety of talents such as a reptile show, and new this year is the Ron Swanson look-alike contest.

“We are really excited about the Ron Swanson look-alike contest. Registration can be done online or people can walk up at the event, fill out a form and enter right there,” Lemke said.

Since Nick Offerman, who played Ron Swanson on the TV show “Parks and Recreation” is from Minooka, Lemke thought this would be a fun event for the community.

There are a variety of activities the entire day on Saturday. Visit www.minookalionsclub.com for information.