McHenry plans 815 Day on - yes - 8/15 to highlight what makes city ‘exceptional’

An event that’s been going on in Rockford for about a decade, 815 Day is taken from the region’s area code and the date it is held, Aug. 15, Julie Skaggs said.

Skaggs, co-owner of Shop 3430 in downtown McHenry, decided to borrow from that town’s program and bring a similar event to McHenry and hopefully bring more attention to her adopted city.

“Given that we are in the same area code, I decided we could establish the same thing here,” Skaggs said.

She pitched the idea of hosting an 815 McHenry Day to the city and the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce, and it has taken off from there. The city has given the event a page on the McHenry website shopndinemchenry.com, allowing businesses to promote themselves and their plans for the day and the month.

“This communitywide initiative is designed to highlight the people, places, and experiences that make McHenry exceptional, offering engaging and interactive activities across the city,” according to a memo to the McHenry City Council from Doug Martin, economic development director.

Unlike other promotions that may focus on McHenry’s downtown areas, 815 Day is for all businesses in town, Skaggs said.

“McHenry is a little sleeper here” in northern Illinois, Skaggs said. “It is growing and blooming quickly, and people in the surrounding area don’t know it. I want to bring attention to that. ... It showcases all that McHenry has to offer.”

Businesses planning to offer specials or host special events for the day are invited to sign up and promote them on the economic development website. A Facebook page, 815 McHenry, also has a link to share those promotions with organizers and post their specials.

McHenry High School is set “to take over Miller Point Park at 6 p.m. with band and choir performances,” Skaggs said. A declaration is planned at Veteran’s Memorial Park early in the day, and musicians will be playing at set areas around town, too.

For its part of 815 Day, McHenry is launching a community service project to collect items from city employees and residents for the Pioneer Center for Human Services’ PADS Homeless Shelter based on its current “wish list.”

Final details and schedules of the events planned are being worked out and will be posted on the Facebook page as they are finalized, Skaggs said.

Skaggs’ Mad Soyentist Candle Company, David and Danielle Badgley’s Lumber & Twine and Julie Vahos’s Hair Flextensions were all part of the first round of McHenry Riverwalk Shoppes before joining forces and opening their store at 3430 Elm St. in early 2024.

815 Day is not the first promotional event Skaggs and her partners at Shop 3430 have done in McHenry since they opened in early 2024. They put on “A Nightmare on Elm Street” for Halloween last year, and did a Festivus event for the Riverwalk Shoppes.

“When we initially started doing events at the tiny shops, one of the goals was to get more involved,” David Badgley said. “Since we are new to the location, we are more involved and know where other businesses are that other people are not even aware of.”

One of the things he thinks events like 815 Day can do is open up the community to all ages, including families with younger children. “McHenry seems to like events, so we can make some new and some kid- and family- friendly ones,” he said.

But it’s not just about promoting their shop, Badgley said. “It is about volunteering and getting the community together to do great things.”