The Darien Lions Club held the club’s 50th Independence Day Parade on Monday, pleasing those who lined the streets to see it.
“We deemed the parade a huge success,” Bill Christenson, parade co-chair, said.
Residents lined most of the streets along the parade route, Christenson said. The parade, which started at the Jewel parking lot and headed north on Cass Avenue to 71st Street, lasted about an hour.
“It was a beautiful day, I think everyone enjoyed themselves,” Christenson said.
About 60 groups participated in the march, including the Hinsdale South High School marching band, the Chicago Bears Drumline and the Honey Bear dancers.
The Salt Creek Model A Club drove their antique cars, BMX bike riders did stunts as they rode, and the characters from the Ghostbusters movie walked and drove the Ghostbuster Ectomobile in the parade.
At the invitation of the Lions Club invites children ages 2 to 12 decorated their bicycles and rode in the parade, too.
While the 50th anniversary made the parade seem a bit more special, Christenson said the fact that people could get out and enjoy themselves after having dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic the past year added to the joy of the day. The traditional Fourth of July parade was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus.
The parade culminated with the Lions Club’s picnic where members of Salt Creek Model A Ford Club parked their cars for people to see up close.