5 great things to do in McHenry County this weekend: Comedy, wildflowers and music

1. The Bull Valley Garden Club will host its annual plant sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 14, at 640 McHenry Ave. in Woodstock.

The sale will feature perennials, native wildflowers, herbs and a special corner of garden treasures, according to the event listing. Professionally grown plants will be from Intrinsic Perennials.

The proceeds benefit scholarships and civic projects.

2. Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member and standup comedian Joe Piscopo will perform a comedy and music show at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Woodstock Opera House, with a portion of the proceeds going to American Legion Post 491 to put toward veterans’ assistance programs.

“American Idol” season 10 third-place finisher Haley Reinhart of Wheeling is scheduled to open the show.

“I’m so very, very honored to be invited to Woodstock for this event,” Piscopo said in a news release. “I have such an infinite respect for veterans, including my father who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in Italy during World War II.”

Tickets ranging from $40 to $65 remain available, but a meet-and-greet is sold out. Tickets and information are available at woodstockoperahouse.com.

Before the performance, Piscopo will be inducted into the Sons of the American Legion at the gazebo on the Square, said Lee Lexow, fundraising chairman for the McHenry post.

“To my knowledge, we’ve never done something this big,” American Legion Post 491 Commander Joe Kalisek said in a statement. “We’re hoping to get a significant financial boon from this in addition to having some fun. It’s going to be a great honor to meet Joe Piscopo and welcome him into membership.”

3. The Hampshire Township Park District will celebrate the opening of Rackow Park, 1363 Romke Road in Hampshire, with live music, food and outdoor games.

The event will run from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday.

Live music will be provided by cover band Evil Burrito, according to the Facebook event. The Double R BBQ food truck will be on site, and beer and seltzers will be sold.

There will be ax throwing, giant yard games, corn hole, football bowling and disc golf, as well as face painting and a balloon artist.

For information, go to hampshireparkdistrict.org.

4. The Wildflower Preservation and Propagation Committee will host its first native plant garden walk of the year this Sunday, May 15.

Featuring a stroll through a rolling oak savanna and an open prairie on a 3-plus-acre private property in Woodstock, the walks will take place at 1 and 3:30 p.m.

All of the walks are free of charge and no pre-registration is required. They are all guided walks with the tour beginning at the posted time.

For information about this and future walks, go to thewppc.org.

5. Two different meat raffles are set for this Sunday – one to raise money for the annual Pistakee Bay fireworks display and the other for the Crystal Lake Lions Club.

The Pistakee Bay Fireworks Meat Raffle is set for noon Sunday at Oak Park Lounge, 801 Oak Grove Road in Johnsburg.

This is the first fundraiser of the year for Pistakee Bay Fireworks, which is held each year around July 4. All money raised is used solely for the fireworks, according to the group’s Facebook page.

Tickets cost $1 each. There are new tickets for each round, and everyone saves their tickets for the final round.

The Crystal Lake Lions Club hosts its spring meat raffle at 1 p.m. Sunday at All Inn Pub and Grub, 1502 Jones Ave. in Holiday Hills.

Proceeds from the event go to the Crystal Lake Lions Club for its eyeglasses program that, over the past five years, has provided 375 children and adults with eye exams and glasses at a cost of $50,000, according to the Facebook event.

For information about the events, go to facebook.com/Pistakeebayfirework or facebook.com/crystallakelions.

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