For a small fee, come and wreck our town!

For yet another year, a summer music festival was held at SeatGeak Stadium (or Toyota Park or Bridgeview Stadium). Yet another year, unfortunately, the festivities held June 14-16 brought problems from the residents of Bridgeview. While traffic was better controlled compared to last year, the revelers were not.

First, according to Steve Melvin Westerfield, there was a reported looting by the concertgoers of the Circle K gas station at the northwestern corner of 71st and Harlem.

"Circle K on 71st was closed because of people loitering after concert and trying to damage the gas station because of the after concert crowd," said resident Gracie Janik.

"I knew that was gonna happen the looting. I saw the way that gas station looked Friday night and The entire parking lot was packed. People just loitering out in front, blocking the entrance to the gas station being loud and ignorant," said resident Ronnie Apple Seed.

In addition to the looting, loud music, and heavy Harlem traffic, Bridgeview residents were disgusted to witness other forms of hooliganism, including alleged vomiting and urinating on people's lawns.

“Friday night, said resident Socarro Puentes, "they knocked down our mailbox after the event was over.”

Of many Bridgeview residents talking about the events that have occurred, most are not only angry, but they are fed up.

An anonymous poster for a Facebook group exemplifies the anger of said Bridgeviewers.

"Crap ton of people loitering all down Harlem at the businesses and no police anywhere all down at SeatGeek. No organization for the tons of people or the heavy traffic... THIS IS A SH** SHOW BRIDGEVIEW. YOU NEED TO DO BETTER!!! Bridgeview PD and the Village Broad done f***ed up this weekend with this concert at SeatGeek. People driving like A****LES with out a care for other people on the road that want to get home...from the concert as well. There's no organization for the heavy heavy traffic car cutting other cars off a truck almost ran me off the road on Harlem. This is F***EN BULLS**T BRIDGEVIEW , YOU NEED TO DO BETTER!!!!

While most comments about these concerts have been negative, there are a few residents who feel that nothing wrong happened at Summer Smash.

"My son was there last year, as well as [June 15] and [June 16]," said Jamie Stahulak. "It was no fiasco. No problems inside."

"Kids having fun," remarked Lynne Mytych Novak. "Have it again next year!"

Another resident, Kendra Murphy, made a sober conclusion about the concert debacle that has residents reeling.

"You can't have fun without thugs starting their sh**. Sad country we live in."

What makes the same residents so angry is the awareness that we can expect something just as troublesome, if not worse, in September. RiotFest (or RiotLand), a weekend festival of punk rock, heavy metal rock, and alternative rock, will be coming to Bridgeview in September after Village Hall told the Red Star, a female soccer team that has a contract with the Village to use the stadium, was told to find another place to have their game so that RiotFest could take place. For those who do no know, RiotFest was held for a number of years in Chicago's Douglass Park after they were told they were no longer welcome at Humboldt Park because neighbors and community action groups complained of the noise, litter, and, yes, hooliganism that took place. After residents around Douglass Park rose against Riot Fest, and the alleged lack of cooperation from the Chicago Park District, the decision was made to move the venue again. This time, to Bridgeview's stadium.

As I mentioned in a similar article last year, concerts of such a large magnitude have no place in a relatively congested town such as Bridgeview. They belong out in an open field in the country, such as it was with Woodstock. Residents have a right to live in a peaceful community and not tolerate the blatant disrespect too many concertgoers bring to their host towns. They have a right to not have their property damaged or businesses looted. Regretfully, those we keep in power do not care about such rights. Instead, they would rather exploit our beloved town for extra money. My question is, will the owner of the Circle K receive any of that money to repair damages or replace stolen merchandise? Will it be used to fix or replace Ms. Puente's mailbox? Will it be used to clean up the litter and vomit on people's property? These are legitimate questions since our 79th Street bridge has not seen any repairs to it since last year's Summerfest; it is still rife with potholes.

Citizens of Bridgeview, as was done with Humboldt Park and Douglass Park in Chicago, we have the power to decide who comes into our town. We have the power to only use the stadium for soccer and to not have any more of theses fests. The best way to start using this power is to come to the monthly Board of Trustee meetings at the Village Hall every first Wednesday of every month, demanding our rights to a quiet and peaceful community to be honored. Another way to start is to form community action committees and circulate petitions. The only other option is to do nothing but sit and complain as our town goes to the wolves and others are lining their pockets at our expense. The choice is yours.