Fall Festival planned at Lyon Farm Sept. 24-25

The Kendall County Historical Society (KCHS) is hosting its annual Fall Festival beginning at 10 a.m. Sept. 24 and 25 at Lyon Farm, 7935 Route 71, Yorkville.

On Saturday, Sept. 24, KCHS’s first annual Founder’s Day celebration will be held as part of this year’s festival, commemorating the men and women who created the Lyon Farm historical village and farm in 1970. This year’s event honors founders Homer and Alice Dickson and their son Elmer Dickson and William (Bill) Perkins for their long-time support. There will be an ice cream social and a line-up of Blues and Bluegrass music along with a presentation of scenes from the play Willy Wonka Jr. by the Yorkville Performing Arts Center (YPAC) at the Farm’s Burlington Train Depot platform throughout the afternoon.

The YPAC performance will begin at 11:30 a.m. followed by the Blues Imperials playing R&B and Blues music at 1:30 p.m. At 3 p.m. The Templetons will perform Americana Folk music on banjo, fiddle and bass. They will be followed by Truman’s Ridge at 4:30 p.m. playing harmonies reminiscent of early brother bands and also showing a strong rural-gospel influence in their vocals.

In addition to live entertainment, KCHS several programs during the day. At 10:30 a.m. Rhea Hunter from the Illinois State Genealogical Society will present a program offering guidelines to researching family trees. At noon Chuck (Jelly Man) Kernier will demonstrate how to make his prize-winning raspberry jam and offer samples. He will be followed at 1 p.m. by Leo Phillip from the Burlington Northern Historical Society speaking on the Burlington Fox River branch from Yorkville to Oswego. At 2 p.m. author and retired history teacher Jeff Kehoe will discuss his book on the Illinois Midland Railroad.

A car show is planned for Sept. 25. Registration will be open on Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon. There is a $5 fee per vehicle. Awards will be given. The car show is sponsored by HETTS Auto Sales.

The historic buildings in the village and the museum will be open both days. There will be a small engines exhibit, children’s games, a craft fair, hayrides, a 50/50 raffle and food vendors all weekend.

Admission is $6 a person ages 11 and older, $4 for children ages 3 to 10 and free for children younger than 2.

For more information on the Fall Festival, visit the KCHS website at lyonfarmkchs.org.