Meredosia May Days to fundraise for family displaced by house fire

Meredosia’s second annual May Days festival will double as a fundraiser for a family displaced by an April house fire, turning the village’s spring celebration into a direct recovery effort.

The weekend runs Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 2, with the pageant set for 6:30 p.m. Friday in the Mecklenburg County High School gym. Saturday’s events will be centered at Boyd Park and packed from morning into night, starting with a flea market at 9 a.m. and a parade at 10:30 a.m. Food vendors will open at 11 a.m., along with bubbles and chalk and a petting zoo. Free kids rides and a bounce house are scheduled from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., while the beer tent will run from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. Live music is planned in two blocks, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and again from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

That mix of attractions gives the fundraiser a broad reach, with something for families, parade watchers, shoppers and people who want to stay through the evening entertainment. It also gives Meredosia residents a concrete way to help a neighbor family while still keeping the festival’s celebration intact. The event listing describes the weekend as family fun, community and celebration, and this year that promise carries added weight because the beneficiary family is coping with the loss of a home.

The need is real in a village where fire damage can spread quickly. A March 2025 blaze in Shady Acres Mobile Home Park began after firefighters were called just before 4 p.m. to an abandoned trailer fire, and high winds helped the flames move fast enough to destroy the back half of the park. The current fundraiser follows that kind of local reality, where one fire can ripple through an entire neighborhood and leave families scrambling for housing, clothing and basic stability.

Meredosia is leaning on a newer tradition to respond. The festival is only in its second year, but the village itself dates to 1832 and was once an important commercial center on the Illinois River. Its history runs through French settlers, railroad development and pearl button manufacturing, a reminder that shared local enterprise has long shaped this river town. May Days is now becoming part of that story, serving as both a community gathering and a safety net when one of Meredosia’s own needs help most.