Weekend events for Friday, July 8 through Sunday, July 10

Friday, July 8

State Representative candidate for the 69th District, Angelique Bodine of Poplar Grove, will host a town hall/community meeting from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Ida Public Library, located at 320 N. State St. in Belvidere. She will also host another meeting from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at The Brick Cafe, located at 615 S. State St. in Belvidere.

Saturday, July 9

There will be a fundraiser for Kara Arnett Ferguson to help her raise money to fight her Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The fundraiser will take place from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Boone County Fairgrounds. The cost is $10 to attend which will include dinner. Tickets are $5 for children to receive a dinner. Drinks will also be available for purchase. Doors will open at 4 p.m. with dinner being served from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Dinner will include pulled pork, coleslaw, baked beans, dinner rolls, and dessert. Hot dogs will be available for children.

Acoustic Guitar on Wood

Michael Johnathon, a Kentucky folksinger-songwriter and host of the internationally acclaimed WoodSongs Old Time Radio Hour, will perform at Concerts on the Creek at Spring Creek UCC, located at 4500 Spring Creek Road in Rockford.  Concert will begin at 7 p.m.  Doors open at 6 p.m.

Grandstand show tickets and season tickets for the Boone County Fair go on sale at 8 a.m. Season tickets will be on sale at locations throughout Belvidere including area banks and at the fairgrounds ticket office during the whole month of July. Season tickets are $18. Grandstand tickets include the tickets for the tractor pulls which are $10, the bull riding show, which are $10, the demo derby, which are $10, the truck show, which are $7 or $5 based on seating, and the Martina McBride concert, where tickets are $25.

The 4^th Annual River Jam will be held from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Rockford’s Verdi Club, at 782 N. Madison St. in Rockford.  The benefit fundraiser honors the Veterans and VetsRoll.  River Jam is nine hours of live music and includes blues, country and classic rock.  Headliners include Stone Free, Miles Nielsen and the Rusted Hearts and Jamie Campbell and the Redneck Romeos.  The family friendly event features great food, beer tend, kids play area and raffles all on the club’s grassy lawn along the beautiful Rock River.  Tickets are available to the general public at the Verdi Club or at the gate day of the show for $20, kids under 12 are free and parking is free.  This is a rain or shine, tent covered event. Chairs and blankets are welcomed, but no carry-ins or pets.  For more information call (815) 968-8119 or go online to: www.theverdiclub.com.

Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful will host a clothing drive from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Belvidere Township Building at 8200 Fairgrounds Road in Belvidere.

Branson’s own BHS Alumni Diana Lynn and Ron Preston will celebrate the sounds of the Carpenters at the Belvidere Moose Lodge, located at 575 Beloit Road, at 7 p.m. Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the Moose will have food available for purchase. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $15 from the Moose Lodge or by contacting Ed at (815) 703-2121. Tickets will be $20 at the door.

Klehm Arboretum and Botanical Gardens will host a volunteer gardening and weeding event from 9 a.m. to noon.

The Belvidere Cruise Night will take place on State Street in downtown Belvidere after 5 p.m. There is no official start time or end time, just come and go as you please starting after 5 p.m.  This cruise night is “a place to share your stories and pictures from past cruise nights, traditionally held on the second Saturday in July in Belvidere. We’re here to revitalize the name and nostalgia of cruise night. We are working hard on compiling the full history on how it all started. Old photos and war stories, the original people who started it all, some who are no longer with us. Yes, things are different now; it can never be the same as it was back in the day, but it would be a great way to pay tribute to an event that a lot of people have some very great memories of. For more information, visit the Belvidere Cruise Night Facebook page at facebook.com/BelvidereCruiseNight, or go to twitter.com/CruiseNight12, or YouTube at: www.youtube.com/user/BelvidereCruiseNight?feature=mhee, or email the committee at [email protected].

Sunday, July 10

The Belvidere Park District will host a youth triathlon for children 6-years-old to 16-years-old. Come join the park district for the 4^th annual youth triathlon featuring swimming, biking, and running.  Swimming will be held at the William Grady Pool, biking and running will take place at the Belvidere Park.  There will be a mandatory pre-race meeting at 7:15 a.m. the morning of the race. For children 6-years-old to 9-years-old, the distances are: swimming for 50 yards, biking for three miles, and running for one and a half miles. For children 10-years-old to 13-years-old, distances are: swimming for 100 yards, biking for 3 miles and running for one and a half miles. For 14-year-olds to 16-year-olds distances are: swimming for 200 yards, biking for three miles, and running for one and a half miles. Non-residents cost $45 to participate and residents will pay $35. For more information, go to www.bpdyouthtriathlon.com.

The Boone County Arts Council will continue the 2016 Concerts in the Park series with Bluegrass Reunion Band performing bluegrass music at the Baltic Mill Stage in Belvidere Park at 6:30 p.m. This event is sponsored by Byron Bank.  The rain site for this event is the Community Building Complex of Boone County, located at 111 W. First St. in Belvidere. For more information, call (815) 544-6242.

The EAA Chapter 1414 will host a pancake breakfast at the Vintage Wings and Wheels Museum, located at 5151 Orth Road in Poplar Grove. The breakfast will take place from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.