ROCHELLE — Over the weekend, the 27th Annual Lincoln Highway Heritage Festival was held in downtown Rochelle. 

The event included a food court, beer garden, music, entertainment and amusements all three days. The Little Miss Peanut competition was held Friday evening. Saturday included a pancake breakfast, the car show, a craft and vendor show, Magic Matt’s Family Fun Show, local dancers and the Haunted Maze at the Moose Lodge. 

Sunday also included a pancake breakfast, craft and vendor show, the parade, and an ice cream social. Lincoln Highway Heritage Festival Board President Lisa Schwarz said Saturday that outside of some rain on Friday night, the festival was going well. 

“I feel like as long as the weather holds up, we'll be good to go,” Schwarz said. “We have a really good entertainment line up. Our food vendors are really excited and they say they're doing well. It takes blood, sweat and tears to put all of this together. It's a lot of work, but it's very rewarding. We like to see the community have fun and enjoy themselves at hopefully a fair price.”

The festival is put on by a core group of seven full-time volunteers, along with a few others that help out when Lincoln Highway Heritage Festival draws near. The LHHF board meets and works on the festival year-round. Schwarz said her favorite part of the weekend is the enjoyment she gets from giving back. 

“I do this because I like to give back any way I can,” Schwarz said. “Having the efforts of our volunteers is amazing. We have a small group of people and we all come together and work together and help out where needed. It's like a small family. We always try to make it a good experience for the community. We try to provide something for everyone. We want to have family fun and entertainment.”

Schwarz said the festival’s organizers are always looking for more volunteers to help with putting it on, along with feedback from the community on what the annual celebration can improve on. Those interested in volunteering or providing feedback can attend the LHHF board’s meetings or reach out on its Facebook page. 

“On a scale of 1-10, the amount of work this takes is 100,” Schwarz said. “It's a lot of work. We plan all year long. We meet every month and when it gets closer to the festival we meet twice a month and then once a week. Some don't make it to every meeting but we appreciate every effort they put in. That work makes all of this come together. I just hope everybody that comes out this weekend has a good time.”