Memorial Day 2022 In Lake Forest: Observance Planned At Market Square

LAKE FOREST, IL — The Lake Forest area is remembering fallen servicemembers this Memorial Day this year with a ceremony at Market Square.

The ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. and will feature music from the Lake Forest High School band, according to organizers.

As part of the commemoration of local veterans, the American Legion McKinlock Post 264 is organizing volunteers to post flags at the graves of veterans buried in Lake Forest Cemetery and Saint Mary's Cemetery.

According to the American Legion, volunteers are needed at 8 a.m. Saturday morning in front of either cemetery and again at 8 a.m. Tuesday to walk through, recover the flags, neatly roll them up and arrange for their pickup. Volunteers are also needed on Monday to help pick up flags posted at the downtown train station, Market Square and nearby Western Avenue businesses.

Post 264 representatives promised to share more information Monday about plans for Veterans Memorial Park — formerly known as Open Lands Park — at the southeast corner of Green Bay and Deerpath roads. The redesigned park is set to include a monument designed by Lake Forest resident and Vietnam veteran Gary Tillery, who also designed Chicago's Vietnam War memorial.

The new memorial landmark is set to include the names of all Lake Forest residents who have been killed in action in all conflicts since World War I, according to the post. The base of the granite and stainless steel monument will feature emblems of all six branches of the U.S. military — the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and Space Force.

Memorial Day, which has been a federal holiday since 1971, was originally known as Decoration Day. The tradition of remembering veterans who died in the line of duty during the month of May dates back to 1868, when U.S. Gen. John Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Union lives lost amid battle during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier.

Most local, state and federal offices in Lake Forest, Lake Bluff the rest of Illinois will be closed for the in observance of the holiday, and various local businesses will be open with modified hours.

In Lake Forest and Lake Bluff, services such as mail delivery and pickup and garbage pickup will be delayed for Memorial Day, with Monday's and Tuesday's scheduled yard waste and recycling collection set to take place one day later than usual in both towns. Thursday and Friday pickup in Lake Forest is back to regular schedule.

A Memorial Day parade and ceremony is planned for 10:45 a.m. in Waukegan, headed west from the corner of Washington and Genessee streets to Veterans Plaza, 16 S. Washington St.

Parades are also planned for Wilmette, Lincolnwood, Park Ridge and downtown Chicago — where the route begins with a ceremony to lay a wreath at the Daley Center, 50 W. Washington St., before heading south on State Street from Lake Street.

Here is a list of places that will be closed Monday:

• Post offices
• Libraries
• Banks
• State courts
• State government offices
• County government offices
• Local government offices

The following businesses may be open with adjusted hours so be sure to call ahead:

• Supermarkets
• Liquor stores
• Retail stores
• Museums
• Restaurants and bars
• Outdoor activities
• Beaches and parks