Massive 'Pokemon Go' event planned Saturday in Elgin

An Elgin police officer helps a young Pokemon Go fan play the game Tuesday night. The police department hosted a "walk and talk" to share strategies and safety tips about the popular game. COURTESY OF CITY OF ELGIN

The popularity of the game "Pokemon Go" has been attracting people to downtown Elgin for the last couple weeks, but on Saturday you might see the biggest crowds yet.

That's because a "Massive Lure Drop" is planned 6 to 9 p.m. and expected to attract hundreds of players -- and hopefully entice them to check out local businesses, organizer Michael Copeland said.

The goal of the game is to catch as many Pokemon as possible, which players do by walking about the real world and watching their online avatars mirror their movements in the virtual world.

For the duration of the three-hour event, Copeland plans to put "Lure Modules" at about 25 "PokeStops" downtown, which means Pokemon will be showing up, ripe for the catching. The Facebook page for the event showed that 219 people were going and 480 others were interested as of Thursday afternoon.

Copeland is working with several downtown business owners who'll help cover the cost of purchasing Lure Modules -- one of which lasts 30 minutes -- at 99 cents each. His hope is that players will visit the businesses to recharge their phones, use free Wi-Fi and make a few purchases in the process.

"Why am I doing this? Because I want to promote the businesses. I'm a marketer," Copeland said. "I think businesses -- they have to do something. They can't not do anything. It's too big and it's too viral to not do anything."

Chris Sumner, owner of Mama Lee's Gourmet Popcorn, among the sponsors of Saturday's event, is planning to sell a special "Pokepop" popcorn Saturday.

While the game has brought more people downtown, there hasn't been a great uptick in business, Sumner said. Still, "It definitely helps with awareness. Overall it's pretty good for downtown. Having that foot traffic is always good."

Sponsor Sarah Mooney, owner of Funky Rooster Tattoo and Art Studio, agreed. "Why not have fun and be a part of something that's going to bring people downtown and bring people to Elgin?" she said.

Other sponsors are Blue Box Cafe, Dog's Paw Brewing, Chooch's Pizza and Martini Room.

The police department held a "walk and talk" event Tuesday night, attended by more than 150 people, to share safety tips about "Pokemon Go," even though there have been no incidents in Elgin involving players, Police Cmdr. Ana Lalley said.

"We do a lot of events, but I think this was the most fun," Lalley said. "It was adults, kids, teenagers. The oldest was in her 60s, she had just downloaded the game with her grandkids."

So what are some safety tips? "We are telling people, obviously, not to drive and play this game and not to ride a bike," she said. "Wear bright clothes to be more visible and play as a group to be aware of your surroundings."

Also, make sure not to trespass onto private property. "The first couple of days we had people calling to report they saw a suspicious person," Lalley said. "It's really innocent, but to someone else it could look like it's something worse."