Willie the Wildcat, Northwestern University's mascot, at an Evanston event. Photo: Ryan Dickey from Evanston, IL / Chicago, United States / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
A tiny Abraham Lincoln has been making the rounds in Evanston this week. Mini Abe, the figure used by the Illinois Office of Tourism and Chicago’s North Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau, arrived early in the week to sample the city ahead of the Nov. 29 Illinois-Northwestern football game, known as the Land of Lincoln game.
Stops so far
Mini Abe has sat in on a City Council meeting, tried the Robert Crown Ice Center, visited the bead gallery at Ayla’s Originals, stopped at Stella’s Boutique, browsed Squeezebox Books & Music and baked at Great Harvest. Photos are being shared under the hashtag #MiniAbe.
Before the weekend, he is scheduled to turn up at Hecky’s Barbecue, Eve Alfille Gallery, Finders Keepers, Dave’s Down to Earth Rock Shop, Wine Goddess, Heartwood Center, Curt’s Café, Peckish Pig and Ward Eight. On Thanksgiving Day, he is also expected at the Flying Turkey 5K along the lakefront path.
Game day
On Saturday, Mini Abe is scheduled to join fans tailgating on Central Street, billed as the “Big Ten’s Smallest Fan.” Afterward he is due at Downtown Evanston’s holiday tree lighting at Fountain Square the same evening.
The state tourism office has used Mini Abe in its advertising, including a 2014 spot titled “Whisked Away,” and has sent him to communities around Illinois to show off local attractions. For Evanston, the visit puts independent shops, restaurants and galleries in front of visitors who arrive for the game, on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.
Many of the businesses on his schedule, including Peckish Pig, Finders Keepers and Squeezebox Books & Music, are independent operations that were also planning Small Business Saturday promotions, so the character’s tour doubled as a loose shopping guide to the weekend’s events.
Anyone hoping to spot him has a range of options, from a bookstore and a bakery to a rock shop and an art gallery, and the list includes both daytime retail stops and evening bars and restaurants. The Thanksgiving 5K gives runners their own chance for a photo, and the tailgate on Central Street is the main public event.
Sources: Illinois Office of Tourism; Chicago’s North Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Rachel Lindqvist covers community life, the lakefront, dining and the arts for The Evanston Edge.
