One of last year's American Idol finalists, the long-maned crooner Ace Young was at the River Forest Jewel store on Lake Street for an exclusive area appearance from 2 to 4 p.m. last Wednesday.

"There were a lot of people here," said assistant store director Dan Sweeney, who estimated between 150 and 200 "young, young girls and older women" showed up to help Young promote the new line of "American Idol" ice cream. Everything went just fine, Sweeney said, but River Forest police were called in early Wednesday afternoon to put up barricades and provide crowd control just in case.

"We didn't know what would happen," said Sweeney. "In Belvidere, over 600 people showed up." Sweeney said they decided to play it safe and call in police after a woman called the store looking for directions from Highland Park.

"He's a really great guy," said Sweeney. "He took pictures with every person, and the smile never left his face."

I was one of those 200 people....... :bliss:

"the smile never left his face"....the smile would NEVER leave my face if I ever get to meet him!!

I TOTALLY AGREE! A SMILE WOULD BE PLASTERED TO MY FACE! LUV THE MAN! :wub: