For volunteers and spectators alike, Naperville’s Last Fling parade is an opportunity to spend time with family and neighbors as summer winds down.
“It’s like a family,” said Moira Dwyer of the Naperville Jaycees organization that puts on the Gerald Kia Labor Day Parade as part of the four-day community festival. Dwyer said she agreed to help coordinate the parade because “once you do it, you love it so much, you want to do it again.”
“We know a bunch of people like that, who lived in Naperville and moved away and come back to volunteer at Last Fling,” said Ginny Kula, who became close friends with Dwyer through the Jaycees.
Dwyer and Kula were both at Naperville North High School three hours before the parade stepped off to put up the number signs where each entry had to set up, making sure to space them out appropriately to avoid gaps in the parade and keep it flowing smoothly.
The hard work paid off, as hundreds of entertainers — from dancers to gymnasts to marching bands — delighted the crowds gathered along Mill Street, Jefferson Avenue, Main Street and Porter Avenue to watch the parade wind its way from Naperville North to Naperville Central High School.
“It’s a beautiful day for it,” said Laura Hanley of Naperville, enjoying the sunshine and mild temperatures that often punctuate the end-of-summer parade and make it more comfortable than the one in May, according to marching band members wearing heavy uniforms. “Our son is in the marching band at North. We love it,” Hanley said.
Joanna Pelletier of Naperville said she enjoyed getting together with seven family members to check out the floats, popular characters and fire trucks, which were her 2-year-old daughter’s favorite part of the parade. “It’s more exciting now because she’s older and is more aware of what it’s all about. I love the atmosphere.”
Kula said she has seen the parade grow in the 10-plus years she has been volunteering with the Jaycees. This year’s parade lasted about 90 minutes and included 84 entries, which was fewer than 2016 when the election year brought out many more political participants.
“A lot of work goes into it,” said Kula, a former Jaycees board member. “You meet a lot of friends. It’s a lot of camaraderie.” She said hundreds of volunteers work together to plan, line up sponsors, coordinate, set-up, run and tear down the parade and other events that make up Last Fling.
“I think it’s important,” added Dwyer, who finds time to volunteer despite being a full-time working single mother raising two children. “You make time. It’s social. And the people at the festival, they thank you for everything.”
Kula said a contingent of volunteers work late into the night “to get everything out,” so the downtown streets are cleared by Tuesday morning.
“If you haven’t volunteered before, do it. You won’t regret it,” said Dwyer, who volunteered all four days of the festival. “It’s bringing the community together. I’ve been doing it six years.”
Kula said her Jaycees commitment has brought her “long-lasting friendships, lifelong. People are really friendly.”
“We raise a lot of money on this event,” added Dwyer. “What we make we give back.” She said the money is used to fund community projects, and Jaycees members get to vote on how to disperse the money to help Naperville. “I love it because it’s giving back.”
Diane Moca is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.