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IOU Club Easter Egg Hunt is a rousing success
ANNE EICKSTADT PHOTO Belvidere Republican
Hundreds of people attended the IOU Club’s rescheduled Easter Egg Hunt on April 8.
The IOU Club held its annual Easter Egg Hunt on April 8, at Belvidere Park. They re-scheduled it from April 1, because things were such a mess after the tornado that came roaring up the Kishwaukee River and hit the Apollo Theater. When they did hold the event, they offered three circles for the children to collect their candies, one circle for ages 3 and under, one for kids aged 4 through 6, and a third circle for children aged 7 to 9. 300 to 400 children attended the event.
Club members were in the park early to scatter the goodies for the kids to gather. Their organized efforts saw the field prepared and ready for families with plenty of time to spare. The bags that held the candies and such were tucked into large garbage bags and collected in the back of a pickup truck so the field looked inviting and pristine when the parents arrived with their children. The kids did have to bring their own Easter baskets or bags to carry their haul of goodies home.
Parents were allowed to help in the 3 and under circle, the other children were deemed old enough to enter the circle to hunt for goodies on their own. The Easter Bunny posed for pictures with everyone who wanted a photo. He even posed when eager parents who brought their unwilling children to pose with him. (Even amusement parks see kids who love the characters but are intimidated and frightened when the characters are near.) The Easter Bunny was feeling feisty and posed dramatically or comically at any opportunity when a camera was pointed in his direction. Most of the children were delighted to see him and ran to greet him with cries of joy and hugs.
“The IOU Club is a very giving group,” said President Bob Turner. “We are dedicated to helping kids and people in need. We are here to support the community and we are always looking for ways to do something for the kids that will put a smile on their faces. This is a wonderful event for the kids of the community.
“The IOU Club is a group of business executives and government officials who enjoy getting together once a week to help the kids. There are about 77 members, we lost a couple last year but we have added a couple new members. The group was founded 99 years ago in 1923. We hold events for the kids throughout the year. We have the annual Easter Egg Hunt, the Halloween Parade, and a Christmas Party for school kids.
John Wolf said, “We are a secretive group. We do not shout out our good deeds to everyone. We do them quietly. We got our name because when the group was formed, we held a fundraiser which did not make any money. We held a second one, and then a third, which did not make any money either. The 13 members of the club went to the bank and told President Funderburg, we are local businessmen, we are good for the money but right now we need to borrow money to pay the club creditors. The bank secretary told him that she did not have room on the form to put 13 names and asked what she should do. They said ‘at the moment we owe money, call us the IOU Club.’”
(Whether it is true or a fictitious story, you will have to decide.)
This year will see the 100th anniversary of the IOU Club. Maybe they will allow us to know how they plan to celebrate. Maybe they will keep that information private to club members. We will see.
