Crazy as it seems, summer is upon us. University of Illinois finals week starts in just a week. Yes. A WEEK. And commencement is just over two weeks away.
This means we are about to enter into that glorious C-U season of U of I Students Are Gone So Let’s Go Do Stuff On Campus. No offense to our seasonal residents. You contribute an enormous amount to our community. But us townies enjoy our May-August Campustown gallivanting where we can stretch out a bit.
Champaign Center Partnership has been helping this process along for the past couple of years with their 13 Thursdays promotion, and it’s back again this year. Basically, it’s a fun incentive to go try out Campustown businesses during the summer months that you may otherwise not consider during the busy academic year, and in turn you are supporting those businesses that experience a major slow down during that time. I credit 13 Thursdays with inticing me to try Paris Super Crepes last summer, and whoa was that a great decision.
Beginning Thursday May 16, various food establishments and other U of I campus businesses will offer special discounts, and you just have to mention 13 Thursdays to take advantage. Those businesses can also validate an hour of free parking in the Campus Center parking deck. If you want to be extra ambitious, pick up a passport at any participating business, and get a stamp each time you use a deal. Once you have six stamps you can turn it in by August 8th to be entered in a prize drawings.
You can find a list of participting businesses and their deals here.