It may not qualify as an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records, but it took Park Forest 63 days to complete its July 4 parade.
Two months ago, weather conditions and the threat of heavy thunderstorms in the area were reasons enough for the village to call off both the village’s parade and fireworks show on the day this country celebrated its 250th anniversary.
That first weekend of July was the start of a two-month-long siege of heavy rain, tornadoes and fierce winds which swept through the south suburbs as well as Lake and Porter counties in Indiana as numerous homes were damaged or destroyed.
Even today, large branches and uprooted trees still litter portions of the village and some residents still face daunting cleanup tasks.
It will take time and money to restore damaged homes, as well as sewer backups and the cleanup of trees scattered along the streets and sidewalks of numerous south suburban communities.
The cleanup of storm damage will take lots of time and lots of money, but the July 4 celebration on Labor Day reminded me of the old Timex watch jingle.
We may take a licking “but we keep on ticking.”
Because this was September, for the most part the large crowds were missing. Intersections, usually a gathering spot in a July parade, and the number of floats and marchers, seemed to be down in number.
The Rich Township band, however, made up for a scarcity of floats. Brass blared and dozens of drummers thumped their way from start to finish of the mile-plus route around Central Park.
A big band in a parade is always a plus,
After a concert by N-Deep “THE BAND” on Village Green, along with vendors selling everything from jewelry to funnel cake, there was the usual dazzling fireworks show in Central Park. The lone difference was sunset, which is about one hour earlier in September than July. It seemed the darker the night the more spectacular the fireworks.
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Labor Day signals the end of summer and after the trials we faced this year, we can say good riddance.
To my mind, the Independence Day parade I always recall was the 2003 gala, in which a young state senator from Chicago who was running in the next year’s U.S. Senate race, tramped parade routes in five north and west suburban communities seeking name recognition.
It was a broiling hot day but instead of stopping, he was persuaded by local businessman Mike Jordan (this is the other MJ) to not forget the south suburbs. Tired as he was, Barack Obama marched in the Park Forest parade, which started at 6 p.m. As he passed my mother-in-law’s house on Lakewood Boulevard, and at a time when I was on the dark side, doing PR for the village, I snapped a picture of the candidate.
Never forgotten
This coming Friday, communities across the country will join in marking the 25th anniversary of the nearly 3,000 lives lost during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington.
It was then that three hijacked commercial airliners were used to attack the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon. A fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers and crew members fought back against the hijackers.
Park Forest will hold its ceremony at 9.a.m. Friday outside the village’s Fire Department. You can check your community’s plans.
Jerry Shnay is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown.