The luck of the Irish was with the village of Tinley Park this weekend as the village’s 23rd annual Irish Parade was met with 45-degree temperatures and sun instead of the 10 inches of snow the area narrowly avoided Friday night.
“We were so lucky,” said Tinley Park marketing director Donna Framke, who helped coordinate the parade. “I was panicking on Friday trying to figure out how public works would get the streets and sidewalks clear for everyone in time, but we ended up with a beautiful day.”
Framke said the pleasant conditions likely lead to a bigger turnout with a crowd estimated to be near 15,000 spectators coming out bedecked in all their green and orange gear to celebrate the Chicago area Irish community.
“It’s always so great to see,” said Mary Fahy, a Peotone resident and first generation Irish-American who joined her family for the parade. “It’s great that everyone comes out in all their Irish gear to support the parade and to support the Irish community.”
The parade, which ran from 179th Street to 172nd Street along Oak Park Avenue, included participants from about 75 organizations, Framke said. It was led by trucks from the Tinley Park Fire Department and the grand marshals were Dina Bair and Patrick Elwood from WGN News.
Among those marching in the parade were representatives from Tinley Park and Orland Township’s government agencies, student athletes, veterans’ organizations, the Girl Scouts of America, Tinley Park People’s Animals Welfare Society and some of their four-legged friends, and several businesses, including Gaelic Park, the south suburbs’ iconic Irish event venue and cultural center.
Across from the reviewing stand there were short performances by several groups including the Tinley Park Bobcats cheerleaders, UGA Gymnastics, Black Bird Irish Dance School and two bagpipe marching bands, the Chicago Stockyard Kilty Band and the Band of Brothers Pipes and Drum Band, made up of current and former members of area fire departments.
After the parade, attendees were encouraged to continue the celebrations in the Oak Park Avenue restaurants and bars as well as in Zabrocki Plaza, where refreshments were served and live Irish music was provided by local band Vision in the Rhythm. Tinley Park village trustees announced they would move forward with the long-awaited development of Harmony Square Plaza at North Street and Oak Park Avenue, and unveiled concept art of the project.
The development, which Mayor Michael Glotz said has been in the works for 20 years, can move ahead because the village acquired the final parcel of land needed. The site, which the village is developing along with the Lakota Group, will be used as a year-round event venue and will feature a band stand, a large artificial turf lawn, a public bathroom, a children’s splash pad in the summer and a skating rink in the winter, which will come equipped with skate rentals, warming huts and fire pits.
Glotz said the village plans to break ground this summer and is in talks with ComEd and the utility companies about moving power lines underground to improve the site.
“We’re going to be making a mess this year, but hopefully we’ll have it ready by September of 2024, if not sooner,” Glotz said.
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Village attorney Paul O’Grady said the exact finish date has not been set because much of the work will be weather dependent.
“We’re very glad the waiting is over,” Glotz said. “Without the support of our village staff and the board, none of it would have ever happened, so I’m very grateful to them.”
Jessie Molloy is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.