Our Daily Show LIVE From the Grafton Country Music Festival: Mary Jo and Dan
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GRAFTON - During the Grafton Country Music Festival, Mary Jo Cote and Dan Ebbing expressed their excitement to share the event with the community.
Cote, who owns Grafton Pub, was particularly excited about the music. She said Grafton Pub was “hopping” with musicians like Dakota Danielle, Midwest Avenue and more. Meanwhile, Chamber of Commerce President Ebbing was pleased with the turnout as hundreds of people flocked to Grafton for the weekend.
“Grafton is blessed,” Ebbing said. “There’s no doubt about it. The cars are lined up as far as I can see on Main Street coming into town.”
This was the second annual Grafton Country Music Festival, complete with live music at almost every bar and contests throughout the weekend. Cote encouraged people to get down to Grafton Pub in time for their Mr. and Mrs. Country Music Festival coronation.
“We’ve been preparing all week,” she said. “We’ve been working all week and stocking up. We’ve got an extra bar set up. We’re ready to go, so everybody come on down.”
Grafton Pub, Third Chute and Bobby G’s collaborated to bring in regional favorites Russo & Co., a St. Louis-based band known for their covers and original songs. Anthony Russo expressed his excitement to play at the festival, and Cote and Ebbing were eager to welcome the band to town.
Above all, organizers like Ebbing and Cote hoped that the festival encouraged people to visit the restaurants and retailers in Grafton. Cote noted that the stores in Grafton carry “different and unique” merchandise, and she pointed to this as one of the many reasons to support small, locally-owned businesses.
Ebbing echoed Cote and added that he is proud of how the City of Grafton worked together to put on the Grafton Country Music Festival. It required a lot of collaboration and support between businesses, and Ebbing was pleased with how everyone came together to make it happen.
“[The local businesses are] very diverse, and at the same time, they all have the same goal,” he added. “When you work together, you can put on huge events like this.”
For more information about Grafton Pub, visit GraftonPub.com. To learn more about the Grafton Chamber of Commerce, check out GraftonILChamber.com.