8-04-2021 5:52am

A grand opening for Hidden Creek Estates

Michael McGinnis Editor

South Beloit Mayor Ted Rehl at Hidden Creek Estates' ribbon cutting, flanked by co-owners Kerry Frank (with scissors) and Dude Frank,

A few days after their "largest wedding of the year," Hidden Creek Estates held its Grand Opening on Thursday, July 29. The event culminated months of preparation and zoning hearings, first with the Village of Roscoe, then with the City of South Beloit.

The wine bar will now be open Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 4:00 -9:00 p.m. The venue is available for one wedding or outdoor event each weekend - until it gets too cold.

Besides a ribbon cutting with South Beloit Mayor Ted Rehl, visitors at the grand opening experienced live music, food trucks, and yard games. Guests could sit by the pond, which now has a fountain in the middle of it, on picnic blankets (provided by the venue). Or they could try out the swing built for two. Attendants at the 75 car parking lot directed visitors to park facing away from the neighbors, offering golf cart shuttles to the barn/wine bar.

In the barn's lower level, the wine bar staff, led by aspiring sommelier Aaron Frank, served fine wines from France, South Africa, California, Italy, Spain, Austria, as well as beer and non-alcoholic beverages. One of the most talked-about beverages later in the evening was the well water - it's very good. The creator of Bryn Ellen Patisserie showed off her cupcakes, truffles, cookies, tarts, and other desserts, all of which she made herself. Outside, behind singer/songwriter Zach Hayes and friends, food trucks from Pizza Fresca and Marvin's Tacos served Neapolitan wood-fired pizza and steak tacos.

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The wedding on July 24 was beautiful, but some of the neighbors thought otherwise and called the police. One of the wedding participants said, "Frankly the music didn’t seem loud... I talked to Security and asked if they wanted the music quieter, but they walked the perimeter and didn’t think the music could be heard off the grounds." But neighbors say they could recognize the lyrics of several songs (depending on their age and musical tastes) and the playlist included "Shout" and "Old Time Rock and Roll."

Joy Thomas, Hidden Creek's Director of Marketing & Communications, told Roscoe News, "The sheriff did respond to a call on a noise complaint and he said that he didn't feel it was too loud and said they didn't have a decibel max so he just wanted to come see himself. After he stopped by around 7:30 m, we did speak with our DJ to adjust the speakers and monitored the volume." She said there were no fireworks at the venue, and there never will be, because they don't allow them. In the pre-annexation agreement, South Beloit says music can continue until 11:00 p.m., but she says, "We shut the music off promptly at 10:30 p.m... by 11:00 p.m, it was only 6 staff members cleaning."

Aaron Szeto, city attorney for South Beloit, told Roscoe News that according to the pre-annexation agreement for the venue, "all outdoor speakers/live music shall be located/positioned at least 500 feet away from any adjacent, occupied house," which is about the distance from the nearest neighbor.

Szeto says, "We have previously told the owner that to the extent the city is made aware of repeated noise complaints, that we will look into whether there are unreasonable noise levels coming from the property and if we determine that there are, we will require them to address it." He said a meeting between the City and County was scheduled for this week "to discuss the Hidden Creek property so that both agencies are on the same page with regards to responding to complaints."

Thomas says, "As this was our largest wedding of the year, I don't foresee there being further issues with neighbors, and we do take care in ensuring we are respectful neighbors."