Arts & Entertainment
Wheeling Prepares to Welcome Haley Home
Hometown celebration will be held Saturday if Haley Reinhart advances to American Idol's final three.
The Village of Wheeling is keeping an optimistic outlook for Haley Reinhart’s continued success on American Idol.
Officials are preparing for the 20-year-old resident’s hometown visit, which will take place Saturday if she advances to the competition’s final three.
“We are all so proud of Haley, and so impressed with her talents,” Village President Judy Abruscato said in a statement. “This hometown visit will be an outstanding opportunity for the whole Wheeling community to show the world all the great things that are happening here in our village. The most important thing, of course, is that we all remember to support Haley and vote on Wednesday night!”
After graduating high school, Reinhart attended Harper College in Palatine in 2009 and 2010. She studied jazz at Harper and performed with the college's jazz ensemble and jazz lab.
The Wheeling hometown celebration will officially begin with a motorcade that is expected to proceed south on Northgate Parkway from Dundee Road and then east on Dundee Road to the Wheeling Community Campus, followed by a brief public reception outside the Village Hall, 2 Community Blvd. Though an exact schedule has not yet been finalized, the motorcade is expected to occur Saturday afternoon.
Parking for the motorcade and Village Hall event will be available at commuter parking lots at the Wheeling Metra Station and throughout the Community Campus.
After the motorcade, Reinhart’s hometown visit will conclude with a performance at Arlington Park Racetrack. This will be a ticketed event. Fans who wish to attend only Reinhart’s post-race performance can do so free of charge, but must secure a general admission ticket that allows entry to Arlington Park after 4 p.m.
Tickets can be reserved by visiting www.arlingtonpark.com after Thursday night’s American Idol results program concludes at 8 p.m. The general-admission tickets will not include reserved seating and will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis. Fans are strongly encouraged to reserve their tickets early.
Fans who wish to purchase admission or to reserve seats for the afternoon’s races (which begin at 1 p.m.) will be permitted to remain in those seats for the free performance. Tickets for the races start at $8 and can be purchased online at www.arlingtonpark.com.
Event attendees are strongly encouraged to allow extra travel time, as higher-than-normal traffic volumes are expected. Arlington Park Racetrack is accessible by commuter rail on the Union Pacific Northwest line (Arlington Park stop). Carpooling or the use of public transportation is strongly encouraged for both the motorcade and the performance.
A number of Wheeling businesses have been hosting American Idol viewing-and-voting parties on Wednesday nights, and the village encourages Reinhart’s fans to support both her and these establishments.
The Village of Wheeling also reminds Idol viewer to vote for Reinhart Wednesday night, after she and the three other remaining finalists compete at 7 p.m. on Fox. Voting will begin around 8:30 p.m., and can be done by phone, online and by text message for AT&T customers.
Updated details about Reinhart’s pending visit will be posted at www.wheelingil.gov. Additional information Reinhart’s hometown visit, which will only occur if she advances to the next round, will be available after this week’s voting results are announced.
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