Last Cruise Night Canceled As Eateries Report COVID-19 Cases

PLAINFIELD, IL — The last Plainfield Cruise Night of the year has been canceled as restaurants across the village are reporting positive COVID-19 cases, the organizers announced in a social media post Monday.

In a public announcement in May, the Plainfield Area Chamber of Commerce canceled its previously scheduled annual event for June amid the COVID-19 outbreak. In lieu of its annual event, the chamber hosted a Classic Car Cruise with 50 vehicles 20 years or older that were driven for an hour through at least four neighborhoods in Plainfield.

Once Illinois moved to Phase 4 of the governor's reopening plans amid the coronavirus pandemic, the chamber decided to relaunch its Cruise Nights from July 14-Aug. 25. The chamber took over cruise nights in 2013, hoping to continue a great tradition of the show. The Cruise Nights help in the downtown area of Plainfield every Tuesday for a month is a great way to herald the beginning of summer every year.

According to Tasha Marsaglia, executive director of the Plainfield Area Chamber of Commerce, the Cruise Nights has not only been beneficial to local businesses but is also a fundraiser for the chamber.

"By not having this event, it is affecting our organization as well. But one of our big things was we still wanted to bring something to our community during this time," she told Patch in an earlier interview. "Our events have always been free for cargoers to be a part of. The only way that we do actually make money to help cover costs is through our sponsorships and then our raffles."

Since July, the chamber hosted a few successful Cruise Nights, and the only other one they canceled was on Aug. 11, due to power outage in the area due to the tornadoes that ripped through Illinois.

Plainfield residents are disappointed that the Cruise Night scheduled for Tuesday has been canceled. "Plainfield cruise nights were one of the few things that we actually COULD do this Summer. Sad it got cut short," one of them wrote on the event's Facebook page.

Vendors and local businesses will also be affected by this, and they have also expressed their feelings about this via social media posts.

Several restaurants in Plainfield — including Moe Joe's, Sovereign and Craft'd — have reported employees testing positive for the virus. Will County is now at a warning level — also knows as the orange level — for the coronavirus, with COVID-19 numbers heading in the wrong direction.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, a county enters a warning level when two or more coronavirus risk indicators increase. As of Friday, Will County is at a warning level for the number of deaths as well as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.

For more news and information like this, subscribe to the Plainfield Patch for free. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here. Don't forget to like us on Facebook!