FROM KEVIN Hope to see folks at the [Forever Bloom charity bike ride](https://www.blindcornerbrewery.com/shop/p/forever-bloom-charity-bike-ride) Saturday! Been super excited for this one. I'll be wearing a Bike the Drive jersey. Come say hi if you see me! |
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HEADS UP Toddler Takeover runs two weeks starting Monday, September 21, with dino digs, story time, sticker making, sensory play, and music and movement, all of it scheduled while the older kids are in school. The museum has been closed since September 8 for annual maintenance and opens again Saturday, September 19. |
Naperville Public Library's Mahjong for Beginners class is Thursday, September 24 at 6:30 p.m. at the 95th Street branch, 3015 Cedar Glade Dr. The session walks through the history, the rules, and the strategy, with a focus on the Hong Kong variation. It is listed for adults, and knowing nothing going in is the premise. |
The Wheaton Police Department teaches Safely Home Alone, Wheaton Park District's class for kids ages 8 to 12, on Thursday, September 24 from 5 to 6 p.m. It covers how to handle common situations and emergencies at home. Registration is open. |
Nestor Gomez tells stories about growing up in Guatemala, coming here at 15, and the life he built after. He is at the 95th Street library, 3015 Cedar Glade Dr., on Saturday, September 19 at 2 p.m. It is an adult program. |
| THE READ  Saturday at 10:30 a.m. the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center runs Wild Baby Brunch: an hour at the observation windows watching staff feed baby wild animals and explain what it takes to raise them. Free, no registration, all ages, under 18 with an adult. It is also indoors, which this weekend is the whole argument. The windows are there every day the center is open. Six of them run along the east wall of the visitor center, looking straight into the treatment rooms where staff examine injured animals and perform surgeries. The center treats about 11,000 injured and orphaned animals a year. It is at 525 S. Park Blvd. in Glen Ellyn, the building opened in January, and the suggested donation is $5 per person ages 3 and up. |
| THE ROUNDUP The original New York location of Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings held a Michelin recommendation nine years running, and the chain opened its first Illinois store in Chicago's River North in late August. Naperville is next. The menu covers boiled, steamed, and pan-fried dumplings and buns, stir-fried rice cakes, and scallion oil noodles, plus an all-day breakfast of scallion pancakes with sliced beef and savory tofu pudding. No opening date yet; the Block 59 directory still lists it as coming soon. |
More than 120 artisans set up at CityGate Centre, 2135 CityGate Lane, on Saturday and Sunday, September 19 and 20. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, and the stalls carry fashion, food, home goods, and art. Admission is free with an RSVP, so is parking, and dogs and kids are welcome. |
Morton Arboretum's Walking Plays return with Wuthering Heights on select Saturdays and Sundays from September 19 through October 25. Fall performances start at 4 p.m. at the Thornhill Shelter and last about 90 minutes with no intermission. The actors work among the trees and the audience hikes a 1.5-mile route from scene to scene, so pack water, bug spray, and a chair or blanket. It is built for ages 12 and up: dark themes, mild violence. A shorter, slower low-impact version is set for Saturday, October 17. Tickets are on the Arboretum's site. |
 Naper Settlement's farmers market closes its season Tuesday, September 22 from 3 to 7 p.m., and the Bootmobile will be parked there. It is a truck shaped like a boot. |
 Bolingbrook Park District's Fall Fest takes over the Bolingbrook Recreation and Aquatic Complex, 200 Lindsey Lane, on Saturday, September 19 from 3 to 6 p.m. Admission and parking are free with no registration: hayrides, a mini corn maze, archery, games and inflatables, a live DJ, food trucks, and the Fountaindale library bookmobile. |
| THE EAT Chicagoland trucks, live music, and family entertainment spread across the Naper Settlement grounds on Saturday, September 19, the year's second after the spring edition on May 9. Gate times and ticket prices are not posted yet. The spring one ran noon to 7 p.m. with $5 advance general admission and kids 10 and under free, so plan near that and check Naper Settlement first. |
| THE WEEKEND The Forecast Friday stays cool and cloudy, mid-60s to low 70s, so grab a layer you can peel off. Saturday brings rain and thunderstorms, probably starting mid-morning and sticking around through the afternoon, with a high of 74. Waterproof jacket, and shoes you don't mind soaking. Sunday is more of the same: showers and storms likely, temps stuck in the mid-60s. Plan something indoors, or waterproof up if you're heading out. |
 The sixth Naperville Irish Fest runs Friday evening and all day Saturday, September 18 and 19, at Central Park, 104 E. Benton Street. West Suburban Irish puts it on: Celtic bands, Irish dance schools, hurling and Gaelic football demonstrations, an Irish Village marketplace, and a culture tent with genealogy help. Friday's lineup is McNulty Irish Dancers, Mulligan Stew, On the Lash, and Classical Blast. Tickets are $15 each or two for $25. |
 New this year, the DuPage Symphony Orchestra plays the Free Speech Pavilion on Saturday, between 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The Naperville Art League turns Jackson Avenue into an open-air gallery Saturday and Sunday, September 19 and 20, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, rain or shine. The fair started 41 years ago and now draws dozens of artists working in painting, photography, glass, ceramics, jewelry, wood, and metal sculpture. |
 Two days of Oktoberfest hit the Forest and Library parking lots on Burlington Avenue in downtown Downers Grove, Friday and Saturday, September 18 and 19. Gates at 5 p.m. Friday, Local H at 7:15, Candlebox closing at 9:30. Saturday opens at 11 a.m. and flips family-first: story time, a kids DJ dance, Ralph's World at 2 p.m., then Liquid Soul. Covered stage and big tents, so the rain is priced in. Tickets go by the day, and the Education Foundation of Downers Grove District 58 puts every dollar of proceeds into the schools. |
The Lisle Heritage Society brings historic building tours, blacksmithing demonstrations, pioneer games, and hayrides on Saturday and Sunday, September 19 and 20, from noon to 5 p.m. No registration, all ages, and the 42nd edition is still free. |
 Cantigny's 20th annual car show is Sunday, September 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the South Parking Lot, with vintage cars, entertainment, and food and drink vendors. Parking is $21 per car, cards only. Late registration to show your own car stays open through Sunday at $26, and the first 200 registered cars through the gate get a free limited-edition T-shirt. |
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YOUR TURN Running an event, or know something happening around town? The best stuff out here spreads by word of mouth. Be the word, we read every submission. |
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