Dear Editor,
 
On behalf of Libertyville's Brainerd Community Center board of directors, I would like to extend a very heartfelt "thank you" to everyone who helped make this past weekend's Wine, Beer, Cigar and Food Festival a resounding success, for a second year in a row! 
 
I am excited to announce that over 1,500 people came out to participate in the celebration held at the Brainerd football field.  The success can be directly attributed to those who made the decision to show their support for the Brainerd Community Center/Brainerd Building renovation project.  I would like to specifically thank Bob Stemper from S&S Wine and Spirit Warehouse and Brainerd Community Center's John Snow. This event would not have happened without Bob's vision. Both Bob and John worked long hours to help lead a wonderful, knowledgeable and hardworking committee of volunteers in the planning and execution of our event. We also had very strong and much-needed support from Ken Aldridge and Aldridge Electric, Mary Cramer and her hard work making sure the infrastructure of our event was handled smoothly, the Village Board and employees of the village of Libertyville, Mark Khiat and Austin's Saloon and Eatery and the vendors and many volunteers who participated in the day. Most importantly, we would like to thank the Libertyville and Lake County community who have echoed the great support for the Brainerd Community Center.
 
A new feature of this year's event was the Besley Homebrew Reuter of Gurnee. David's Lap Dog — Baltic Porter took first place in our competition! Thank you to everyone who made this portion of our event a big success — Fred Losch of Losch Beverage, Rich Madole, Brian Grano of Mickey Finn's Brewery and all of our event judges. Look for David's Porter to be on tap at Mickey Finn's later this year competition — congratulations to our winner, David !

I would like to remind anyone who would like to join the community support for the Brainerd Community Center project, there are many opportunities to become involved.  We have a wide variety of volunteering opportunities, whether you have a very limited or unlimited amount to give. We welcome all levels of financial support, from a few dollars a month — to larger support from families or corporations looking to create a lasting legacy through community philanthropy. 

For information on becoming more involved at any level, I encourage you to visit our website at www.SaveBrainerd.org. You may volunteer online and our website also can take donations online. 

Mailed donations may go to Brainerd Community Center, 118 W. Cook, Libertyville, IL 60048.

Finally, don't forget to save the date for next year's event — the last weekend in August 2012.

Thank You,
 
Jim Moran
President - Brainerd Community Center
www.savebrainerd.org