PEORIA, Ill. – People who must be outside in the extreme heat this week are trying to find ways to stay cool.
Temperatures in central Illinois will reach near 100 degrees the next couple days, with heat indexes well into the triple digits. A excessive heat warning is in effect for central Illinois until Friday evening.
One of those groups outside in the hot temperatures is the Peoria Municipal Band, who performed a regularly scheduled show outside of Kelleher’s Irish Pub and Eatery Wednesday evening.
James Fry is the principal trumpeter for the band. He says they were told at rehearsals earlier in the week to prepare for how hot the evening would be.
“They asked everyone to start hydrating yesterday (Tuesday). So that way, we could be prepared,” Fry said. “Because it gets warm. And, of course, our core temperature goes up as we play these instruments. So we want to make sure that we’re well-hydrated, and so that we can play well to let everyone hear a great concert.”
Fry says he usually drinks two to three bottles of water a day, but increased that to six to seven for the evening show.
Kara Honeycutt is a bartender at Kelleher’s, who was assigned to an outdoor bar for the evening’s performance.
Honeycutt says she had been outside since around 4:00 P.M. to prepare and serve people for the 7:00 P.M. show.
“Trying to keep ourselves cool by drinking a lot of water. It helps that the building creates a lot of shade. And then we do our best to step in the cooler over there as much as we can, catch a little draft every time we open it,” Honeycutt said.
Another group outside in the hot weather were the people at a class at River City Crossfit in downtown Peoria.
Matt McClanahan is a coach at River City Crossfit, and says they have a few ways to try and keep the classes cool while working out in the heat.
“We provide water and we have the fans going. And we just make sure that people work out in the shade inside, we don’t like people working outside in the direct sun,” McClanahan said.
McClanahan says they also tell people in their classes to listen to their bodies and make sure they don’t overwork themselves.
