Friday 4
You can celebrate the suburbs and the lawn-care demands of fall at the first National Lawn Mower Racing Championship, held under the auspices of (what else?) the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association, at the Lake County Fairgrounds today. Scoff if you will; USLMRA prez Gerry Smith scoffs back, “A lawn mower whipping around a course at 30 miles an hour is really a sight to behold.” The association promises heats in three classes (stock, factory experimental, and tractors), a drag race, a display of antique mowers, a mower built around a 150-horsepower Chinook jet-helicopter engine, even a precision lawn-mower drill team from Arcola, Illinois. (The drill team’s motto: “A group of grown men doing something absolutely useless for society.”) Things get going at 11; it’s $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, and free for kids. Proceeds benefit the Les Turner ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) Foundation. The fairgrounds are at the intersection of routes 45 and 120, just east of Grayslake. Call 708-729-7363 for more.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Monday 7
The only one-armed juggler known to the International Jugglers Association begins a six-night stand at Zanies tonight. With his right arm atrophied since childhood, Dale Jones makes up for it with reputedly dazzling one-arm skill (and some help from feet, knees, and head). He started juggling at 15, joined Ringling Bros. at 21, and has been treading the boards as a professional comic juggler ever since. “I’m more of a fighter than people think,” he says. “You don’t get to be a one-armed juggler by quitting.” He does shows nightly at Zanies, 1548 N. Wells, at 8:30 Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday and 7, 9, and 11:15 Friday and Saturday. Cover is $12, and there’s a two-drink minimum. Call 337-4027 for more.
By the time the CTA’s Robert Belcaster takes the stage this evening at a Friends of Downtown dinner the crowding, confusion, and general chaos that his outlandish monthly pass experiment will engender should be apparent. (On September 1 the agency replaced the $60 pass with a $45 pass that requires an additional quarter per ride.) You can rake him over the coals tonight at the dinner at Salvador’s, 185 N. Wabash. Cocktails start at 5:30, dinner at 6. It’s $18. Call 977-0098 for more.
