St. Pat's Day Celebration 030123

A St. Patrick's Day

Message from the Chamber

This Saturday is St. Patty’s in Forest Park

We’re not expecting half a million people like they are in Dublin, but the Forest Park Chamber’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is certainly our most popular event and our attendance numbers are just as impressive for a town our size. Attendance reached an all-time high last year at an estimated crowd of 10,000 people.

We host the parade early in March – typically two weekends before St. Patrick’s Day weekend. The Chamber chose that path initially to ensure that we didn’t compete with local or city parades for entrants or attendance, and to also allow for a second day of celebration. Folks always come out on St. Patrick’s Day. By hosting it before the ‘official’ St. Pat’s weekend, we’re bringing people to Forest Park twice.

People often remark that the weather would be better if we moved the date back,

but that’s not how Chicago-area weather rolls. For example, last year’s parade day temperature was 70 degrees. Granted, that’s really great weather for March, but the temperature on the following Saturday was 24 degrees. Over the last 26 years, it’s gone the other way of course, but Forest Park St. Pat’s Parade Day parade-goers are in it to win it so we always have a great turnout.

As with any event we host, sponsors are key to making the parade happen. Their support allows us to create an entertaining line-up that includes entries like Medinah Shriner’s parade units who receive an honorarium for participating. Event sponsorship also supports the overall work of the Chamber.

Thank you to this year’s main sponsors: Title Sponsors: O’Sullivan’s Public House; Fiore Pizzeria & Bakery; Ironworkers Local 1.

Advertising Sponsors: Burke Beverage; The Gillian Baker Team; Village of Forest Park; Mohr Oil Company; Christopher B.

Burke Engineering, Ltd; Fatduck Tavern & Grill; Speaker of the Illinois House Emanuel Chris Welch; Republic Services, Riveredge Hospital, Currie Motors and Caffe DeLuca.

Shamrock Sponsors: Forest Park Bakery; Little Teeth Big Smiles/Children’s Dentistry; Let’s Play Work; Shanahan’s; Scratch Kitchen; Park District of Forest Park; Jessica Voogd for Commissioner; Our Planet Automotive; Progress Center; and Toothbuds Pediatric Dentistry.

I also want to thank every single member of the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce for their support. Together with the village and other key organizations, we all work together to keep Forest Park strong.

Happy parade day and happy St. Patrick’s Day to one and all.

Put

Sawa’s Old

Monday, March 6

Family, Food, and Murder: What Makes a Cozy Mystery Series

Mia P. Manansala, author of the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries, will discuss this mystery subgenre and why she tackles serious topics in a light, humorous way.

Monday, March 13

Gamelan Music from Java

Learn about instruments and music from Java, presented by a group of musicians from the Friends of the Gamelan.

Monday March 20

Salvador Dali: The Image Disappears

Dr. Onur Öztürk of Columbia College Chicago will briefly summarize the life and art of Spanish Surrealist painter and printmaker Salvador Dali, and show highlights of the Art Institute’s new exhibition.

Monday, March 27—Science

How Oak Park and River Forest Were Shaped by the Ice Age

Glacial ice has created practically every geologic feature in our corner of the Midwest, even though the most recent glacier retreated about 20,000 years ago. Dr. John P. Tandarich will discuss this with a focus on the specific features that we especially in our area.

Nobody does St. Patrick’s parades like Forest Park

And they’re doing it this Saturday on Madison Street

This Saturday at 1 p.m., 75 groups, lined up on Van Buren Street, will march east on Madison Street to Elgin Avenue, and up to 7,000 residents and visitors will line the sidewalks to enjoy the procession. It’s 13 days early, but the St. Patrick’s Parade every year attracts the largest crowd of any event in the village.

Crowd-pleasers in the parade will be the Proviso East Marching Band, the Doonaree Pipe Band, the Foy Irish School of Dancing, Shriners acting like big kids as they rev their little motorcycles in the Medinah Motor Corp. along with fellow Shriners driving their mini-cars.

The fire and police departments in the area never let the Chamber Executive Director Laurie Kokenes know in advance how many units they’ll be sending, but she said it’s usually around five, and the firefighters and police officers riding in the vehicles have as much fun wailing their sirens as the kids do listening to them. Politicians hoping to curry favor and win your votes will be marching, and gladhanding, including Mayor Rory Hoskins and his challenger, John Doss; plus commissioner incumbents Jessica Voogd, Maria Maxham and Ryan Nero who are run-

ning for re-election and challengers Ryan Russ, Michelle Melin-Rogovin, and Joe Landgrebe; Speaker of the House Emanuel Chris Welch; and Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough.

Schools, nonprofits, and many businesses have a presence walking in the parade and waving at their neighbors, making it a truly hometown event.

The Title Sponsors — businesses that support the event with donations — are O’Sullivan’s, Ironworkers Local 1, and Fiore. Joining the Title Sponsors are 26 other businesses and organizations that help fund the event.

Among the reasons the Chamber of Commerce sponsors the parade is that it functions as a fundraiser for the organization. Following is the list of entry fees for the event:

Chamber Business Members $65

Non-Member Business $120

Chamber Member Not-For-Profit $50

Non-Member Not-For-Profit $65

Political $65

Individual Non-business, Residential, Families, etc. $50

The Chamber needs those funds to sustain its mission which is, in the words of Chamber President Neil Rembos, “to drive local business and connect our community. Chamber events are perfect opportunities for us to showcase Forest Park’s smalltown charm and strong sense of community. With the exposure and sizeable foot traffic our events bring to our business districts, we are confident that attendees will see what our town has to offer and return in the future.”

Rembos is the owner of Crystal Carwash, located on Harlem, and therefore does not benefit directly from the exposure that businesses on Madison Street enjoy during the parade.

Nonetheless, he still invests time and energy in the event.

“As a town,” he said, “we have created a brand of vibrant culture, local charm, and diversity. The parade benefits all businesses and the entire community as whole by further supporting our brand while increasing our exposure. We continue to host Chamber events to share our story and focus on the positive aspects of Forest Park that we all know and love.”

Kokenes added that in addition to putting Forest Park on the radar screens of consumers, a lot of money is spent in town

that day, especially in the bars. In fact, the Chamber has gotten into the merchandising business by selling its own brand of clothing.

Up till Feb. 20, they were selling online hoodies, crew sweatshirts, T-shirts, baseball tees, beanies, pom hats, ball caps, vests, and jackets.

Last year Forest Park became a parking lot by the time the parade started at 1 p.m. Last year every parking space on the side streets north of Madison to Randolph and south to Jackson was filled.

Tom Skilling has predicted that the weather on Saturday will be partly sunny with a high of 50 degrees.

The website History.com makes it clear

See PARADE on page B11

Families prepare for the parade to approach on Saturday, March 5, 2022, during the Forest Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Madison Street in downtown Forest Park.

Parade

Continued from page B7

that Patrick did not found the Guinness Brewery, which is perhaps more associated with the holiday than the Fourth Century saint.

“St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, is one of Christianity’s most widely known figures. But for all of his prevalence in culture — namely the holiday held on the day of his death that bears his name — his life

remains somewhat of a mystery. Although a missionary to the Emerald Isle, Patrick himself was not Irish.

“Many of the stories traditionally associated with St. Patrick, including the famous account of his banishing all the snakes from Ireland, are false, the products of hundreds of years of exaggerated storytelling.”

There will no doubt be more exaggerated storytelling during and after this Saturday’s festivities.