Manteno, IL

The annual Oktoberfest starts Thursday 9/18 and continues thru Sunday 9/21. As usual there will be many activities throughout the weekend for all ages including..

• Thursday from 2-6pm Farmers Market, 6pm The bean bag tournament starts
• Friday and Saturday Check out the garage sales throughout the village.
• Saturday Night @ 7pm The annual Lighted Parade
  
• Sunday Morning @ 8am The Oktoberfest Run for Education starts at the High School- 5K Run that benefits the Manteno Educational Foundation
• and many more events!!

Visit the Oktoberfest website for more information and signup sheets for the different events. www.mantenooktoberfest.com

The Village of Manteno's Fireworks will take place on Saturday July 5th at dusk. as they have for many years the fireworks show will take place at the Manteno Sportsmen's Club. which is located at 851 N. Main St. on the north end of town. The Bakersfield Band is set to perform from 7pm to 12am.

Here is a list from The Daily Journal of some area fireworks shows

The seventh annual Polar Plunge took place Sunday at the beautiful "frozen" Lake Manteno. The event raised $47,000 so far (hopes are it will top $50,000 all together) for Special Olympics and brought out over two hundred uniquely dressed participants determined to make the plunge. Of course, because the lake is still frozen over, a backhoe was brought in to make a hole in the 16 inch thick ice. Congrats to all those who took the plunge for charity.

Check out a video, pictures and the full article.

Manteno Illinois is located approximately 40 miles south of Chicago's loop and has approximately 7,000 residents. I-57 runs north and south along the west side of Manteno for easy access to Chicago or south to any number of shopping or attraction sites. Manteno is considered one of Kankakee County's fastest growing communities with a combination of industrial and agricultural occupations. The are also home to Sears and K-Mart Distribution Centers, and Diversatech Industrial Park on the east side of town which contains many diversified industrial plants and warehousing complexes.

Manteno was named after a half-indian maiden, daughter of Francois Bourbounnais, Jr., one of this regions earliest settlers. You can find out more information on this gentleman by visiting

Oliver W. Barnard, an early settler in this area, spells her name *Mantenau* in one of his books. Other 19th century books spell it *Mawteno* and *Manteno*. Because of her indian blood Manteno (spelled *Monteno* in the treaty, but considered incorrect, as the clerk also misspelled *Bourbonnais* was given a section of land, now part of northeastern Kankakee County, by the treaty of Camp Tippecanoe of december 20th. 1832.

Incorporation as a village came in 1869, and progress quickly followed. Postal service arrived in 1870, telephone communication was added in 1883 and the Village Hall and a water works building were constructed in 1895.

As the 1900's arrived, Manteno's identity as a railroad/agricultural town was established. At that time, the village boasted 932 inhabitants. By 1920 the population had reached 1,182; there was a Businessmen's Association; Main Street was paved and the Manteno State Hospital, later to become the largest in the world, was begun.

Stop by and visit Manteno Illinois. It's a growing community but still has the small town feel. There are currently 52 active Residential listings in Manteno priced from $139,000 to $439,000.

Come and stop by the Village of Manteno's annual Oktoberfest Sept. 20-23, there will be something for everyone. The carnival runs Thursday-Sunday. Garage sales throughout the village on Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Car Show on Main Street on Saturday afternoon, and the Lighted parade on Saturday night. Visit http://www.manteno.com/oktoberfest/ for a full schedule of the weekend events.