Raceway's anniversary motors to new -- hopefully dry -- date
Mother Nature rewrote history this weekend, but she didn't stop it.
The rain she sent to drench a good portion of the country created havoc for anyone with outdoor plans. Some of them took place as planned, with participants getting soaked; some of them were canceled and others were postponed.
The third was the case for the 50th anniversary party of the opening of Meadowdale International Raceway in Carpentersville. Organizers had planned it for Sept. 13 and 14, the dates of the first races in 1958. But the stormy remnants of Hurricane Ike splashed their hopes.
"We weren't going to make people walk around in the mud and the puddles," said Donna Redmer, one of the organizers. "So, we reschedule it for Saturday, Sept. 27. It will be just one day, but still we'll do something."
The party, most of which is free and open to the public, will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It will be at the same site where fast cars raced in the 1960s, on the property that borders Route 31 and Huntley Road.
Hopefully by then, trails leading to the original racetrack will be dry so some of the original drivers will want to return.
"A lot of them showed up for last weekend. We had about 8-10 come, " Donna said. "One came in from Wyoming and another from Wisconsin. The driver from Wyoming will not be back. It's just too far to come. But others will."
They will show of their cars, as will area residents who have classic and well-maintained cars that are 40 years old and older.
Members of the Dundee Township Rotary Club have promised to return and sell food for partygoers.
The anniversary party was supposed to be a party of the Heritage Fest celebration, West Dundee sponsored last weekend. Since many of its events were held on paved streets, they went on as planned even though their organizers and volunteers were drenched.
Organizers of the Meadowdale anniversary decided to delay their party because of the damage the rain and mud would do to the cars and spectators. But they vowed to hold it because of track's importance to Dundee Township history.
It put Dundee Township on the regional race circuit map and brought thousands of spectators to watch the races. Its life wasn't long, though. Meadowdale closed in 1969, sat vacant for years and now is public property owned by Dundee Township, the local park district and the Kane County Forest Preserve Commission.
People who attend the party will have a chance to see how much the plants have grown and multiplied after the cars and the crowd left, Redmer said.