ROCHELLE — The City of Rochelle’s annual Hay Day event is scheduled for Saturday, October 15th from 11 am to 3 pm in the downtown viewing area.
The tradition began several years ago with hay bale decorating by local businesses and organizations and has grown into a larger event to celebrate the season downtown, said director of community engagement for the city, Jenny Thompson.
“We call it our family fall festival,” Thompson said. “It is aimed at the little ones. There will be bounce houses, a zoo, the library will participate, the same teenage musicians will perform, the hospital will be there with activities, Rise Up Dance will perform and the CAN Food Truck Festival will take place”.
Hay bale decorating still plays a big part in Hay Day and around 50 places around the city are already showing off their creativity this year. When the tradition began, only 20 to 30 hay bales were decorated in the city.
This year, Rochelle’s hay bale artwork includes a pirate, a Starbucks drink, the Country School ice cream cone mascot, the Flintstones’ home, a witch’s cauldron, a shooting range target, Chase from Paw Patrol, Mater from Cars and an ode. in Rochelle township high schools.
“The job is up to all the hay bale decorators,” Thompson said. “People are spending money and putting in staff time. They’re buying supplies and working on it. It’s great to see how far people take it. They really go all out.”
The hay bale decorating started when a small group discussed what could be done in Rochelle for the fall. An idea was found in Europe where people decorated hay bales and made straw sculptures.
Thompson said she has enjoyed watching the tradition grow over the years and be embraced by all ages. Visitors come to town and get one of the hay bale maps the town had made and go see them all.
“It’s been nice for the residents and people in the area,” Thompson said. “It helps us showcase what Rochelle has to offer. It’s been great to see it grow. One year I picked my kids up from Tilton School and the hay bale had just been delivered and the kids came out one by one one and they were really excited to see it. And it wasn’t decorated yet. Just seeing it was very moving to me after all the work people have put into it.”
