Before it had a storefront, Batch put one new ice cream flavor out in pints each week, and it sold out six weeks in a row. The most recent one was caramel apple cider donut, and it was gone within a few hours. On Saturday, Sept. 26, during the Johnny Appleseed Festival, owner Brent Hollenberg opened the doors at 10 N. Williams St.
The opening is good news for anyone who walks downtown. The more useful detail is the shop's projected winter schedule: 2 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, and closed Sunday and Monday. Put those hours next to the October and November calendars for Downtown Crystal Lake and the Raue Center for the Arts, and they line up with nearly every downtown date between now and Thanksgiving weekend. Downtown's fall happens after lunch, on the same short run of Williams Street, and the newest business on that street is open when the crowds are there.
What Batch Actually Sells
Hollenberg named the shop after his family's initials. He told the Northwest Herald the idea came from local ice cream and gelato shops the family loved on vacations, from California to Italy.
"A big part of Batch is making our ice cream in-house and focusing on really high-quality ingredients and interesting flavors."
The menu is short on purpose. There are two sizes, a dish or a waffle cone, a dozen signature flavors and a few seasonal ones that rotate. Everything is ice cream, gelato or sorbet made in the shop. The pint run gives a sense of the range: pistachio gelato, golden banana, birthday cake, and cookies and cream, plus the apple cider donut flavor. Many of those were expected back for the opening.
The winter hours are projected, so check them before you plan around a cone. As announced, they leave out Sunday and Monday and cover every weekday afternoon and evening from Tuesday on. That stretch is where most of downtown's fall calendar sits.
The Thursday Downtown Has Never Done Before
On Thursday, Oct. 15, from 5 to 8 p.m., Downtown Crystal Lake holds its first Shop & Sip. A $20 ticket covers five 3-ounce wine pours, plus mocktails and bites, and participating shops offer fall deals. Live music plays along Williams Street. Check-in is at the Downtown tent in the Brink Street Market, where you pick up the brochure and pour tickets. Ticket sales are limited, and the event is 21 and over.
The organizers' participant list is a fair map of the independent retail you can walk to downtown:
- Home and kitchen: A-Z Interiors, Kitchen Outfitters, The Olive Tap, The Spice & Tea Exchange
- Wine and plants: Off the Vine Wine Shop, Soil & Spade Plant Shop
- Clothing, accessories and gifts: Coco's Boutique, Curated by Laney, Dalzell Jewelers, Lulu's Wiggin Out, Wear Did U Get That
- Wellness and active: Enlightened Balance, Reflections Hair & Wellness, The Running Depot
- Mocktails only: Marvin's Toy Store, Ms. Bossy Boots
Shop & Sip ends at 8 p.m. Under Batch's projected weekday hours, the shop stays open another hour.
The Raue Center Fills In the Rest of the Week
The Shop & Sip is one Thursday. The Raue Center for the Arts at 26 N. Williams St. fills the other evenings. Its fall schedule follows a monthly pattern that's easy to remember: Open Mic Night on a Thursday, Lucy's Comedy on Friday, and Greenroom Improv on Saturday. That runs Oct. 8, 9 and 10 in October and Nov. 12, 13 and 14 in November.
The headliners and tributes fall in between:
| Date | Show | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Mon., Oct. 12 | An Evening with David Sedaris | 7 p.m. |
| Fri., Oct. 16 | Jagged Little Pill: Alanis Morissette Tribute | 8 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 17 | Clay Jenkinson is Thomas Jefferson | 1 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 17 | Simply Billy: A Tribute to Billy Joel | 7 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Rotary Rocks the Raue: James Garner's Tribute to Johnny Cash | 7 p.m. |
| Fri., Oct. 30 | Anthem's Grand Illusion: A Tribute to Styx | 8 p.m. |
| Fri., Nov. 6 | Bourbon Country | 8 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Love Story: Unofficial Taylor Swift Tribute | 1 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Blond Ambition: Tribute to Madonna | 7 p.m. |
| Tue., Nov. 10 | Holiday SINGO! | 6 p.m. |
| Wed., Nov. 25 | CHOIROKE: Holiday Edition | 7 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Heartache Tonight | 7 p.m. |
Run the table against Batch's announced hours and only one show misses. The Sedaris date is Monday, Oct. 12, and the shop's projected schedule has it closed on Mondays. Every other Raue date is on a day Batch plans to be open. The two Saturday matinees, Clay Jenkinson on Oct. 17 and Love Story on Nov. 7, start at 1 p.m., an hour after Batch's projected Saturday opening.
Two Saturdays That Pull You Downtown Twice
Saturday, Oct. 24, starts at the lake and ends on Williams Street. The Crystal Lake Park District holds Truck or Treat at Main Beach, 300 Lakeshore Drive, from 10 a.m. to noon. It's free and drop-in, rain or shine, and kids are encouraged to come in costume with a treat bag. That evening at 7, Rotary Rocks the Raue brings James Garner's Johnny Cash tribute to the Raue stage.
A week later, Halloween lands on a Saturday. The Downtown Halloween Handout runs from 2 to 4 p.m., based at the corner of Williams and Brink. Local businesses and sponsor tents hand out treats, and window posters tell families what's inside. Orange posters mean candy, and teal posters mean non-candy goodies. The Halloween "Scare"olers are back this year, and BCU presents the afternoon. The Handout falls entirely inside Batch's projected Saturday hours, and the Raue's Styx tribute plays the night before, Friday, Oct. 30, at 8 p.m.
The teal-poster system helps households that avoid candy, and it lets you know which door to try before you get there.
Where the Season Is Headed
November moves from tributes toward holiday programming. Holiday SINGO! is a Tuesday-night event at 6 p.m. on Nov. 10, and CHOIROKE: Holiday Edition takes over the Raue on Nov. 25, the night before Thanksgiving.
Downtown Crystal Lake's annual events calendar lists the Festival of Lights Parade for Nov. 27, the Friday after Thanksgiving, from 7 to 9 p.m. The parade's own event page still shows last year's details, so confirm the date closer to the holiday. If the date holds, the parade runs on a Friday evening, inside Batch's projected 2-to-9 window. The next night, Heartache Tonight plays the Raue at 7 p.m.
After that, the annual calendar describes Luminary Nights on Thursdays in December, 5 to 8 p.m., with luminaries lining the sidewalks on Williams Street. It's another evening event on the same street.
A Downtown Fall, Week by Week
Week of Oct. 5. Open Mic Night on Thursday, Lucy's Comedy on Friday and Greenroom Improv on Saturday at the Raue. Batch's first full weeks of regular service.
Week of Oct. 12. David Sedaris on Monday. Shop & Sip on Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m., with check-in at Brink Street Market. The Alanis tribute on Friday, then Clay Jenkinson at 1 p.m. and the Billy Joel tribute at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Week of Oct. 19. Truck or Treat at Main Beach Saturday morning and Rotary Rocks the Raue Saturday night.
Week of Oct. 26. The Styx tribute Friday at 8 p.m. The Halloween Handout Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. at Williams and Brink.
Weeks of Nov. 2 and Nov. 9. Bourbon Country Friday the 6th, a Taylor Swift tribute matinee and a Madonna tribute evening Saturday the 7th, Holiday SINGO! Tuesday the 10th, and the monthly comedy and improv run Nov. 12 to 14.
Thanksgiving week. CHOIROKE on Wednesday the 25th, the Festival of Lights Parade on Friday the 27th, pending confirmation, and Heartache Tonight on Saturday the 28th.
Nearly all of these dates fall on a weekday evening or a Saturday afternoon, when Batch's projected hours say it will be open.
Mandy Montford lives and works in Crystal Lake. If you're thinking about how close you'd want to be to Williams Street in your next home, or how to present your current home's walk to downtown when you sell, let's connect over a scoop at Batch on one of these evenings.
