Everybody's going green at Naperville St. Patrick's Day parade
If there's an abundance of green fleece scarves this St. Patrick's Day, well, there's a special lady behind them.
Those who attend the West Suburban Irish's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in downtown Naperville Saturday will get to see that special lady - Nora "Nonnie" Moran Marovich - as this year's grand marshal.
"It's a great honor," said Marovich, 85. "At my age to be a grand marshal is something else."
She'll be toward the front of the 90-entry parade that steps off at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 17. The annual St. Patrick's parade is the heart of the day's activities in downtown Naperville that include the second annual 5K and a pancake breakfast.
The West Suburban Irish, a club united in Irish heritage with about 200 members, first organized the parade in 1993.
Marovich, of Lisle, helps organize the club's scarf-making effort - a tradition for the past eight years. Scarves sell for $5 each, and members raised $4,000 for those in need in the area. That translates to 800 green scarves last year alone, with proceeds supporting the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which funds research into curing and treating childhood cancers, as well as other area charities.
It's green for green.
"I think everybody should go to that parade and support St. Baldrick's and support all the things that people need help with in this area," Marovich said. "You don't have to be Irish to go to the parade."
This year's West Suburban Irish Parade Queen is Maureen Elizabeth Levy, a Geneva Community High School student who also dances for the McNulty Irish Dancers. The queen's court includes Allison Scharf, a senior at St. Francis High School; Nicolette Geron, a Naperville Central High School student; and Chelsea Hayden, a student at Joliet Junior College.
For those who can't make the parade, NCTV-17 will be airing it on cable public access Channel 17 in Naperville or through video streaming at NCTV17.com.
Prior to the parade, the second annual St. Patrick's Day fun run and walk begins at 8 a.m. near Centennial Beach, and continues mostly along the parade route.
"It's just a fun time," said Bob Welsh, of Crest Hill, the parade's St. Patrick for the last 17 years. "It sounds like this year, if we don't get rained on, it's going to be a warm one. People just line the streets and are waving and calling out the whole time."
The parade starts at Naperville North High School on Mill Street south of Ogden Avenue and heads south on Mill Street to Jefferson, east on Jefferson to Main Street and south on Main Street to Water Street and then travels west on Water Street, ending at Naperville's Municipal Center.
Before and after the parade, a pancake breakfast hosted by the Naperville Evening Kiwanis takes place from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the cafeteria at Naperville Central High School, 440 Aurora Ave., Naperville.
Raffle tickets will be sold for $10 per ticket or three for $20. The grand prize winner receives a $1,000 airfare certificate for travel to Ireland through P.S. Travel, plus a certificate for a six-night bed-and-breakfast stay throughout Ireland from CIE Tours International, as well as a Hertz rental car good for one week.
Proceeds support the parade as well as the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which fund childhood cancer research. Winners are drawn Saturday at Quigley's Irish Pub.
"That's really what it's all about. More than anything, we're just thrilled to help people who are in need," Welsh said. "(Parade goers are) there for fun, but it's also doing some good."
For more information about West Suburban Irish's St. Patrick's Day Parade, visit wsirish.org.
If you go
What: West Suburban Irish St. Patrick's Parade
Where: Downtown Naperville
When: 10 a.m. Saturday, March 17
Cost: Free
Info: wsirish.org