Good news in La Grange. In hopes that coronavirus restrictions will continue to be lifted as more people are vaccinated, the annual La Grange Pet Parade is scheduled for Sept. 18.
People wishing to march in the parade should register on the Pet Parade website, lagrangepetparade.org.
The website also has a picture for children to color and submit to be chosen the junior Grand Marshal of the parade. Kindergartners through sixth-graders are eligible. Their colored pictures must be submitted by March 31. The winner will ride in the parade in the V.I.P. convertible.
In its 75th year, the theme of the 2021 parade will be “75 years strong.”
Nonprofit organizations are allowed to walk in the parade for free. Businesses are invited to participate as sponsors.
This year’s parade will once again include performers, such as the Medinah Flying Carpets, Jesse White Tumblers and the South Shore Drill team, if they are available, said Molly Price, parade coordinator.
Pet Parade-themed boards with cutout faces to pose for photos will be placed in downtown La Grange and there will be a traveling display showing the parade’s history. Bandannas with pet logs will be sold in area stores and businesses.
The La Grange carnival, which usually runs the same weekend as the pet parade, is tentatively scheduled for June 4-6. The La Grange Business Association, which organizes the carnival, is seeking village approval for those dates, with the rides set up on Harris Avenue west of La Grange Road.
The pet parade, a tradition since 1947, usually is held at the end of May or early June.
Last year due to the pandemic, instead of bands and a stream of folks and pets in costume marching through downtown La Grange, the parade took place online, like most activities in 2020. Organizers asked residents to send in short videos of themselves with their pets, which were combined with video clips from prior pet parades and shown on social media. The virtual parade can be watched from the pet parade website.
If coronavirus infections this summer warrant social gathering restrictions, the parade might be canceled, organizers said. In which case, they will focus on planning the 2022 parade.