Months after a tornado ripped through Elmwood, Ill., the city continues its cleanup as its Fall Festival begins. The June tornado destroyed several historic buildings in the downtown area of the town, many of which had to be torn down completely. Downtown construction and vacant lots serve as a reminder of the tornado as fair goers take to the city’s park for the festival this weekend.
![Elmwood Fall Festival Doug Whitney loads debris in the back of his truck as he cleans out a vacant lot before the start of the Fall Festival, pictured in background, on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010, at the corner of Main and Magnolia streets in Elmwood, Ill. Whitney's building was one of several destroyed by a June tornado that ripped through the town.](https://www.brosher.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/elmwoodfest_012.jpg)
![Elmwood Fall Festival Brothers Matthew Williams, left, age 5, and Keaton Williams, age 3, share a few laughs as they ride motorcycles and honk the horns on a ride on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010, at the Fall Festival in Elmwood, Ill.](https://www.brosher.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/elmwoodfest_031.jpg)
![Elmwood Fall Festival Amy Caulkins plays with her daughter, Mackenzie, age 1, before taking the stage during a baby contest on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010, at the Fall Festival in Elmwood, Ill. This is the first year for the baby contest at the festival.](https://www.brosher.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/elmwoodfest_021.jpg)
![Elmwood Fall Festival Alex Boord, age 15, rides a wheelie down Main Street past a building that once housed a laundromat and pet shop on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010, in Elmwood, Ill. Many businesses in this rural community have started to rebuild after the June tornado destroyed several buildings in the downtown area.](https://www.brosher.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/elmwoodfest_061.jpg)
![Elmwood Fall Festival Stephanie Alvey, top left, talks to her daughter, Hannah Alvery, age 8, as they ride with Hank, age 4, top right, and Will, age 2, on the ferris wheel on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010, at the Fall Festival in Elmwood, Ill.](https://www.brosher.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/elmwoodfest_041.jpg)
![Elmwood Fall Festival Dick Taylor uses a level to line up a board for a sign being constructed on a lot where the local hardware store used to stand on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010, in Ellwood, Ill. The hardware store was destroyed by a tornado that ripped through the town in June.](https://www.brosher.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/elmwoodfest_131.jpg)
![Elmwood Fall Festival Oliver Thornton, age 3, rides a miniature Amtrak train as his parents cheer him on during the Fall Festival on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010, in Elmwood, Ill.](https://www.brosher.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/elmwoodfest_051.jpg)
![Elmwood Fall Festival A carnival worker does her homework as she waits for customers during the Fall Festival on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010, in Elmwood, Ill.](https://www.brosher.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/elmwoodfest_071.jpg)
![Elmwood Fall Festival Mallory Byrne reacts while talking to a contestant as she judges the baby contest with fellow judges Stephanie Byrne, left, and Riley Armstrong during the Fall Festival on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010, in Elmwood, Ill.](https://www.brosher.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/elmwoodfest_151.jpg)
![Elmwood Fall Festival A sign saying "help is on this corner" stands in an empty lot marking the site where a local a hardware store once was as Dick Taylor erects a sign in the lot on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010, in Elmwood, Ill. The hardware store was one of several buildings destroyed by a tornado in June, but locals are optimistic that new brick-style buildings will replace those that were lost in the storm.](https://www.brosher.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/elmwoodfest_141.jpg)
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