Elmhurst Memorial Day Parade 2013

Information is taken from elmhurstchamber.org.

ELMHURST, ILL., May 22, 2013 -- More than 80 entries (see centerspread) will march in Elmhurst’s 95th  Annual Memorial Day Parade, led by Grand Marshal Peter W. Farrell, 

Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army, an Airborne Ranger who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and head of the ROTC program at the
University of Illinois-Chicago.

The 2013 Parade is presented by the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Elmhurst American Legion T.H.B. Post 187, Veterans of Foreign Wars Villa Park Post 2801 and the City of Elmhurst.

Members of the Kiwanis Club of Elmhurst will again serve as Parade Marshals, and also will march carrying their giant U.S. flag.

Fellow Kiwanians Ralph P. Pechanio, Chairman of the Elmhurst Veterans Memorial Commission, and John R. Quigley, President & CEO of the Elmhurst Chamber, are the Parade Co-Chairs, since 1996 and 2000, respectively.

“Our parade is a tribute to all those men and women who have so bravely put their lives on the line to defend individual freedoms here in this greatest of nations and around the world,” said Quigley.  “This year’s parade will have added significance as we look forward to the end of the War in Afghanistan by the end of 2014.”

This year’s entries include seven color guards, retired military officers from the United States Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, members of American Legion Post 187 and VFW Post 2801, costumed Civil War re-enactors and military vehicles.

The lead color guard will feature members of the Elmhurst Police and Fire Departments.

     The parade also will feature vehicles representing four fire departments (Elmhurst, Northlake, Oakbrook Terrace, Oak Brook), 12 scouting groups and 12 musical/dance entries, along with political leaders at the federal, state and local levels.

A total of 10 cub scout packs, one boy scout troops and one combined group of girls scouts will carry commemorative war banners.

Elmhurst Mayor Steve Morley and members of the Elmhurst City Council will head a contingent of political leaders that includes U.S. Representative Mike Quigley and State Senator Kirk Dillard and State Representative Patti Bellock.

Four of the musical entries hail from Elmhurst schools.  The marching bands from York Community High School (Marching Dukes) and Elmhurst Middle Schools, both representing Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205, and Timothy Christian High School will perform, as will the Elmhurst College Jazz Band.

Rounding out the parade’s musical and/or dance groups are the Antioch Brass Quintet, Carver Military Academy Drill Team and Drum Corps, Chicago Highlanders Pipes and Drums, Chicago Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Chorus of DuPage, Patton Academy (Farragut High School) JROTC Drill and Drums Team, Royal Airs Drum and Bugle Corps and Spirito! Singers.

The parade will step off at 9:30 a.m. from York Road and Third Street, and concludes with a Military Ceremony at the Veterans Memorial in Wilder Park.  Starting from Third Street, the parade will head south on York Street to Second Street, veer east along Robert Palmer Drive through the underpass and west back to York Street, south on York Street to Church Street, west on Church Street to Prospect Avenue and north on Prospect Avenue past the Veterans Memorial.

Post-Parade Memorial

The Military Ceremony (see inside back cover) at the Elmhurst Veterans Memorial will feature inspirational speeches by Elmhurst Mayor Steve Morley and others, the laying of wreaths by military personnel and civilians, and a traditional Three-Round Volley.

Patriotic music will be performed by the Antioch Brass Quintet and bagpiper Brian Costello of the Shannon Rovers, and sung by the Men of Spirito! and soloist Anne Quigley.

The names of Elmhurst area veterans who passed away since Veterans Day 2012 will be read aloud in remembrance, from the lists provided by Ahlgrim Funeral Home, Gibbons Funeral Home and Pedersen-Ryberg Mortuary.

American Legion Post 187 has placed rows of white crosses adjacent to the Veterans Memorial with the names of Elmhurst residents killed during World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam, Persian Gulf War, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

For the fourth year in row, an Always Remember sign commemorating the names of the deceased Memorial Day Parade Grand Marshals has been erected adjacent to the crosses.  The sign was manufactured by Vital Signs USA, with a donation by Don Meyers.

The Veterans Memorial was dedicated in 1993 through the efforts of former VFW Post 2048, American Legion Post 187 and Ralph Pechanio, 1992 President (now Chairman) of the Chamber’s Board of Directors.  Their fund-raising campaign generated more than $100,000 to build the memorial.

Applications to have a deceased veteran honored at the Veterans Memorial are available at Elmhurst City Hall, 209 North York Street, or by calling (630) 530-3010.