Connor Seitzinger of Sycamore, along with his wife Nicole and daughter Layla, who is almost 2 years old, knew frigid weather was coming so they decided to enjoy the Holiday Express fest at Blackberry Farm in Aurora on Friday night before the chilling blast hit town on Saturday.
“We came to this last year when (Layla) was just a little lump then,” Connor Seitzinger said. “We want to make this special for her and make this a family tradition where she can just look back throughout the years and hopefully, she’ll continue it.”
The Seitzinger family were among hundreds who jumped at the opportunity to visit the Fox Valley Park District’s Blackberry Farm and ride the popular Holiday Express train at the fest on Friday night in light of the dangerously cold weather that was approaching that forced district officials to close the facility on Saturday and Sunday.
The Holiday Express celebration will resume this Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. and 2 to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, which is the last day of the event.
Tim Wagner, public relations and content strategist for the Fox Valley Park District, said the decision to cancel Holiday Express on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 13 and 14, was made Dec. 10.
“This is the first time we’ve had to cancel. I don’t recall in recent memory having to do this because of weather conditions,” Wagner said on Thursday. “Obviously, we had the COVID situation but that’s not this. We realize there were people who were likely having out-of-town guests that were looking forward to this.
“The decision was easy to make from a safety standpoint. We didn’t have any other choice,” Wagner added. “It was difficult to make from a disappointment standpoint. We understand that people might have had this on their agenda and we can’t replace that. Thankfully, we have one more weekend.”
Park district officials said the weather forecast looks more favorable for the coming weekend. Fox Valley Park District Recreation Superintendent Becky Harling predicted there could be a bit of a deluge given it will be the last weekend of the fest as well as factoring in some pent-up demand.
“We do everything in our power to run the event – we know how important and special it is for peoples’ holiday plans,” she said. “Looking ahead the last weekend is usually busier with people trying to pack in those last-minute holiday things they want to do and I expect it to be busy. With the cancellation I predict there will be more attendance.”
This past Friday night, however, it was all hands-on deck as families and staff enjoyed the festival.
Rusty Palm of Sugar Grove was back for the second year working as the engineer of the Holiday Express train.
“This is a retirement thing for me and I retired a few years ago from working at a hardware store,” Palm said. “I like this – just being with people.”
Nicole Seitzinger said visiting Blackberry Farm helps prepare her family for the holiday season.
“It just feels so festive and fun. We try to come every year. It’s something fun to do with the family and get us in the family spirit,” she said.
Marta Kowalski of Schaumburg and her grandson Noah Goner, 7, of Downers Grove, came to the fest for the first time on Friday.
Marta Kowalski said that her grandson loves “all kinds of trains.”
“I found out about this and thought this was a good idea,” she said of attending the Holiday Express celebration.
Jason Friedrich of Aurora came to the festival with his two children Aubrey, 3, and Autumn, 8.
“We come here every year,” he said. “We just love it. It’s an awesome gem around here. If you just look it’s a cool place. It’s great for the kids. They’ve got the Holiday Express (train) and music and Santa. It’s awesome.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
