Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning actor and 1974 Highland Park High School graduate Gary Sinise will help his hometown mark one year since a gunman killed seven people and wounded dozens of others last Fourth of July.
Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band will play a concert as Highland Park completes a day of remembering and gathering as a community a year after the shooting, at 5 p.m. July 4 at Wolters Field.
Mayor Nancy Rotering said in a text Sunday Sinise came to Highland Park shortly after the shooting last year. He specifically expressed support for the first responders, who appreciated his “care and concern.” She is looking forward to the concert.
“The Lt. Dan Band will be providing an entertaining evening for our community, a special opportunity for everyone to come together,” Rotering said in the text. “His generosity and care for Highland Park mean so much to all of us.”
On the Fourth of July this year, the day starts with a remembrance ceremony at 10 a.m. at City Hall followed by a community walk-along the traditional parade route to reclaim the route and build resiliency, according to an email to the community Saturday. A picnic takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Sunset Park before the evening concert.
Born in Blue Island, Sinise moved to Highland Park in high school, graduating in 1974, according to the Gary Sinise Foundation website. While at the high school, he got his start acting in a production of “West Side Story.” After graduation, he started the Steppenwolf Theater Company at the Unitarian Church in Deerfield.