Busy weekend topped by Loyalty Day Parade in Batavia
It's a big weekend for Batavia.
The town is ready to hunt for bargains, learn about weather, snarf up pancakes and show its patriotism, all in the space of three days.
The fun starts Friday, with the Citywide Garage Sale.
More than 150 sellers registered with the Batavia 4th of July Fireworks Fund, paying $30 apiece to be included on the map and in newspaper advertising. The money from the registration supports the annual show, which is paid for privately.
You can get a map of the sale sites at bataviafireworks.org/2011_location_guide.pdf, or pick one up at the Batavia Government Center, 100 N. Island Ave.; the Batavia Civic Center, 327 W. Wilson St.; the Batavia Library, 10 S. Batavia Ave.; McDonald's, 125 W. Wilson; 7-Eleven, 336 E. Wilson; and Limestone Coffee and Tea, 15 E. Wilson.
Sale hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Help feed others
Maybe you can use the money you earned at the Garage Sale to help feed the less fortunate.
The Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry has its spring Food Sharing Days Friday through Sunday. Volunteers will be stationed at the Jewel-Osco store on Randall Road and Berkeley Foods on East Wilson, handling out lists of what the pantry needs. Drive hours are 4 to 7 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Explain wild weather
Saturday brings the return of WGN meteorologist Tom Skilling and his Severe Weather Seminar to Wilson Hall at Fermilab.
The event is free, with admission first-come, first-served. There are sessions at noon and 6 p.m. Speakers include experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency and the National Weather Service, the Illinois state climatologist, a storm-chasing photographer, a physician and Skilling. Topics include the February blizzard, including how it was predicted and its economic impact; efforts to prevent lightning injuries in tropical climates; “killer winds” and how severe thunderstorms can be as deadly as tornadoes; the likelihood of tornadoes hitting Chicago; and deadly rip currents on the Great Lakes.
The seminars are not recommended for children younger than 10. Each session will last three to four hours. A limited number of NOAA weather-alert radios will be given away.
Visitors should enter Fermilab at Kirk Road and Pine Street.
Sunday breakfast
Let somebody else do the cooking on Sunday morning. Or, if you are marching in the Loyalty Day Parade, load those carbs.
The Valley Sheltered Workshop has its 45th annual fundraising pancake breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to noon at 325 Main St. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children. Proceeds support the mission of the nonprofit workshop to train and provide employment for people with physical and developmental disabilities. Workers perform light assembly and packaging work for area companies. The workshop was founded in 1966.
Loyalty Day Parade
The 37th annual Loyalty Day parade, organized by the Batavia Overseas Post 1197, Veterans of Foreign Wars, is at 1:30 p.m. It starts at Raddant Road and Wilson Street and heads west on Wilson to Route 25, then south to the VFW post.
The theme is “We Support — 10 Years of Enduring Freedom.”
Wilson will be closed from Woodland Hills Road to Island Avenue from 1 to 4 p.m. Motorists are urged to instead use Route 56 in North Aurora or Fabyan Parkway in Batavia to cross the Fox River.
The parade promotes patriotism and support for the United States. Loyalty Day, nationally, started as a response to May Day celebrations organized by labor unions, Socialists and Communists, particularly when the Soviet Union formed.