HAVANA, IL Cigar Fest #2 - 7/23/2005

[Ringbill]

How y'all doin'. I live in the small town (~2,500) of Havana, Illinois. Many moons ago this town actually produced nearly a million cigars annually. However, like many small towns in the midwest times have changed and we rely on other industry. Havana is located on the Illinois River, so it's a nice place to visit. Recently they held a "Cigar Fest", which was a pretty informal herf with great food and over 100 people showed up from as far away as the Chicago subs and St. Louis. We're about 4 hours from St. Louis and 3 from Chicago FYI. Well, they are planning another for 23 July and tickets are on sale.

I hope some of you can attend. If you'd like any info from me about it just PM me and I'll do my best - I'm a participant not a planner though! If I see some of you there I'll try to bring a good stash to share .

Here's the info I recieved via email with some additional contact info:

We know it's early, but we've had quite a few requests for Havana Cigar Fest & Beach Bash tickets on July 23, so they are on sale now at the website, www.havanacigarfest.com. Tickets are $15, which includes hors d'oeuvers and entertainment, and an additional $10 will get a Cigar Box Dinner, with Cuban sandwich, mojo chicken with avocado and mango, black beans and rice and shrimp, and a desert item. Four restaurants within a couple of blocks of The Pub also will be open until 9 p.m. or so that night, including one that will feature Cheeseburgers in Paradise for all the Parrotheads.

The event will again be at The Pub, but we're putting in a large tent next door so we can expand to over 200 people. We sold out last time several days before the event, and we're hoping the extra space will enable everyone who wants to attend to do so.

Gary Sluhan will be our entertainment. He sings Jimmy Buffett songs and does them very, very well. He performs form 7-11 p.m. Walking tours of cigar-making locations start at 2 p.m. and doors open at The Pub at 3 p.m.

There is a new section to the website called Make It A Weekend with attractions, shopping and lodging information. We hope you'll take a look and consider coming early or staying late in Havana.

We are now affiliated with Cigar Aficionado, and they will be providing some give away items for the first 100 or so who attend. We also will have a raffle, with proceeds going to the Havana Library for all of their help in reseraching the history of cigars in Havana.

Par-A-Dice Hotel and Casino of East Peoria is our major sponsor.

If you have questions, or would like to donate a raffle item, please e-mail me at greg@havanacigarfest.com or call 309 251-8804.

Hope to see you at the Fest!

Greg Woith
Havana Cigar Fest & Beach Bash