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On a special summer day in 1908, Lake Foresters were taking trips into the sky aboard a hot air balloon, judging a cutest baby contest, and meeting a mind-reading dog. The event was the very first Lake Forest Day festival, which has been celebrated annually ever since.
The festival is so important to the story of the community that it is the focus of a new book about the history of the annual event. Lake Forest Day: 100 Years of Celebration was written by former Lake Forest school teacher and librarian Laurietta Parsh of Grayslake, with the help of the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society. The photo-packed 128-page paperback chronicles the event the celebration from its beginning on through the present day.
The book divides the century into chapters, each covering an era of the festival's history, starting with the first event, which the Lake Forest Women's Club sponsored as a fundraiser for the Contagious Hospital (the hospital later merged with Lake Forest Hospital).
Parsh and Janice Hack, executive director of the historical society, said that the story of the yearly celebration serves as a cross section of the city's history, with the tone of the event reflecting local and national events, especially during the patriotic wartime festivals of the 1940s.
"It's more than just a history of Lake Forest Day," Hack said. "It's really a history of the community told through this event."
Hack said that a conversation about volunteering with the society one day became an in-depth discussion of the history of the annual celebration.
"Everyone kept saying, 'Somebody should write a book about it,' and that seemed like a great idea," Hack said.
Hack knew that society volunteer Parsh has a passion for local history and would be perfect for the job of putting the book together.
"I have always been interested in history and this was a great opportunity for me," Parsh said. "I got a feeling of accomplishment in completing this book. I am really excited about seeing it actually in print."
All of the work on the book was done voluntarily and the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society will profit from proceeds generated from the book's sale.
Parsh, a first-time author, said the book took more than a year to complete and she particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the first celebration.
"I have fun trying to picture the 1908 celebration and the awe of the crowd when the young black man did a trapeze act under the hot air balloon as it soared in the sky," Parsh said. "And then he parachuted to the ground. It must have been so exciting!"
Parsh said she thinks the citizens of Lake Forest will love seeing the book and reading about this one phase of their history.
"I like the description of the many baby contests. The proud parents could show off their beautiful and talented children. Then there were the booths where the young ladies of the town sold gloves, hats, scarves, homemade candy and many other items," Parsh said. "Everything was so low key and home-made fun."
The book includes more than 200 vintage photos collected from the citizens of Lake Forest and the historical society files. Despite receiving hundreds of photos to sort through, Hack expects that "two days after it goes on sale the phone will start ringing" with calls from local families with more vintage photos of the festival.
Lake Forest Day: 100 Years of Celebration will make its public debut at the start of the 2008 Lake Forest Day events on July 31. Go to lakeforestday.com for more information.
For more information about the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society, go to LFLBHistory.org.
To find out more about what Lake Forest was like 100 years ago, read this story in the Lake Forester.
To see what the 2008 Lake Forest Day festivities looked like, go here and here.
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Photos: Brian Thomas, NeighborhoodCircle.com, except where noted.
