Rolling Meadows ready to celebrate 60th birthday

Rolling Meadows is getting ready to celebrate its 60th birthday and officials are asking the whole community to join in.

The celebration kicks off with a party on Feb. 26, the day Rolling Meadows was incorporated in 1955, said Lori Ciezak, assistant to the city manager.

"We wanted to throw the event on the actual day of incorporation and we wanted it to be accessible to the community," Ciezak said of the open house that will take place 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Community Center, 3705 Pheasant Drive.

The event will include a cake-cutting and an honor ceremony for businesses and residents who have been a part of the city from the beginning.

"The effort and energy of so many people have shaped Rolling Meadows into this proud place," Ciezak said. "There's a lot to celebrate."

Officials have invited about 60 original residents of the city to the party.

The winner of the 2015 vehicle sticker student design contest will be announced at the party, and the orchestra and band from Carl Sandburg Junior High will perform. The bell tower along Kirchoff Road will also ring out "Happy Birthday" throughout the day.

Residents and businesses can buy customizable streetlight banners for $125 each from the city. A total of 60 banners, 20 of which have already been sold, will decorate Kirchoff and Algonquin roads.

"We want it to be a very family-friendly event where we can honor the people who had the vision and determination for this town," Ciezak said.

Two businesses - Jewel and Methode - have both been in Rolling Meadows at least since 1955 and are still in businesses today. The Jewel store on Kirchoff Road is the company's oldest store still operational, officials said.

Although 60 is not a milestone birthday such as 50 or 100, Ciezak said it is still an important marker for the city.

"1955 was a year that the residents of Rolling Meadows really came together and said we want this town to be," she said. "They kind of had to go against the masses, the big brothers around us to fight for this town and make it happen. So we want every decade of this city since the incorporation to be big."