Final days until annual winter experience
Bourbonnais, IL – The seventh annual Chocolate Tour returns Saturday, February 3, 2024, from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., at Bishop McNamara Bourbonnais 324 E. Marsile St. The community event is cohosted by the Village of Bourbonnais and Bourbonnais Township Park District, in conjunction with title sponsor Sweet Street. 350 tickets went on sale to the public Wednesday, December 13, 2023, and sold out online in approximately an hour and a half.
With days remaining until the winter experience, the Village of Bourbonnais and Bourbonnais Township Park District announce the return of the second-chance raffle for those who were unable to purchase tickets.
With the event being centered around Valentine’s Day, to enter the contest, participants must ‘love’ the Village of Bourbonnais’ second-chance raffle post on their Facebook page starting Friday, January 26, and comment with at least one thing you love about Bourbonnais by Tuesday, January 30, at 4 p.m., to qualify. Only one entry per person is permitted.
Five winners will be randomly selected on Facebook Live Wednesday, January 31, at 4 p.m. Each winner will be awarded a pair of event tickets.
Bourbonnais Township Park District’s Community Outreach & Marketing Director, Cherie Smolkovich, stated, “We wanted to create a new way to give this opportunity to lucky winners and include more people to be part of this sweet tour.”
Village of Bourbonnais’ Marketing & Public Engagement Manager, Lindy Casey, added, “The committee’s goal is to always maximize the number of participants for this event without creating financial hardship on our businesses.”
“Chocolate Tour spotlights and connects our Bourbonnais business community with residents and visitors. To increase the number of tickets, increases expenses for our businesses who invest in treats to pass out to each participant. We simply can’t host Chocolate Tour if businesses can’t afford to participate. This is the number they feel comfortable with, and we ask every year.”
350 ‘tourists’ will embark upon an afternoon adventure traveling to 40 business stops within the Village of Bourbonnais. Each will receive a tour map for their decadent journey, a passport to receive a stamp at each destination visited, and a bag to tote along sweet treats. A completed passport may be entered to win the Chocolate Tour grand prize, courtesy of Andaul Jewelers in Bourbonnais, and the Chocolate Tour runner-up grand prize, courtesy of the Bourbonnais Friendship Festival.
Chocolate Tour continues its commitment to benefit Bourbonnais with event proceeds supporting the community through various projects, programs and events. 2024 proceeds will benefit Village of Bourbonnais’ new synthetic ice rink and funding for exhibit updates at Bourbonnais Township Park District’s Exploration Station.
Proceeds from previous Chocolate Tour events have benefitted the Event and Skate Plaza, Children’s Safety Center, the 1837 Log Schoolhouse Restoration Project, Robert Latham Community Room upgrades, village park improvements and free events for the public.
Over 25 raffle baskets will be available to win and do not require an event ticket; all are welcome to participate. The baskets will be on display in the gymnasium at Bishop McNamara Bourbonnais. Raffle tickets may be purchased during the event from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the gymnasium. All winners will be announced beginning at 5:00 p.m. Winners do not need to be present.
“We are very thankful for Bishop McNamara’s hospitality and welcoming this event again at their Bourbonnais location,” said Mayor Paul Schore. “We appreciate our local partnerships and working together for Bourbonnais and Kankakee County.”
For information about upcoming Bourbonnais events, visit villageofbourbonnais.com and btpd.org.
