As if the Illinois Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor Festival wasn’t busy enough this coming weekend, Joliet is celebrating the creation of the first-ever Dairy Queen restaurant, according to the Joliet Herald-News.
The public is encouraged to come to the Joliet Area Historical Museum, 204 N. Ottawa St., and experience: free admission to the Route 66 Welcome Center; free kids crafts, while supplies last; free Dairy Queen Dilly Bars, one per person while supplies last; and live free entertainment by the Route 66 Female a cappella quartet 2-3 p.m.
The event is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will also feature onsite displays of Dairy Queen memorabilia, including photos and product sample packages from the first Dairy Queen site on North Chicago Street.
The first DQ was a storefront at 501 N. Chicago St. (aka Route 66), and is now a church. More about the first Dairy Queen can be found on the corporation’s website.
UPDATE 5/5/2011: The Herald-News reports that an executive from Dairy Queen will come to Joliet on May 20 during a celebration to mark that first DQ store. The ceremony will be from 10 a.m. to noon that day, starting at the Joliet Area Historical Museum, then move to the original store at 501 N. Chicago St.
Joining local officials will be Dairy Queen President and Chief Executive Officer John Gainor and others from the company’s corporate offices in Minneapolis. […]
“We’re excited about it, and it should be a lot of fun,” Dean Peters, associate vice president of communications for Dairy Queen, said today.