Barrington parade marches through history
Kim Nordin wasn't around when Davenport Family Funeral Home was established in 1861, but on Saturday she looked like she would have fit right in with her 19th century predecessors.
Donning an 1860s dress and bonnet, Nordin walked down Main Street alongside a horse-drawn hearse as part of Barrington's Fourth of July parade celebrating the village's 150th anniversary. Nordin, a funeral director at Davenport, said the family-owned business was a perfect fit for this year's parade because the funeral home helped bring economic life to the fledgling community.
"Davenport is the longest-running business in Barrington, so it's very fitting," she said. "(The parade) was a lot of fun. There was so much energy and excitement in the crowd."
Dozens of Barrington businesses and organizations embraced the parade's "Barrington Through the Decades" theme, whether it was Davenport using a horse-drawn hearse, Barrington librarians dressing up as historical figures, or floats broadcasting music from years gone by.
Kristin Leese, who helped coordinate the event and manage staging at its starting point, said it went as well as everyone hoped, and the crowd loved the theme.
"Watching it go through the decades, it was like a pageant of time," Leese said. "The crowd seemed to really love the costumes and period themes that went through decade by decade."
And while Barrington's history was honored by parade participants - including co-Grand Marshals Paul Thompson and Mary Smith, who have lived in Barrington since 1939 and 1947, respectively - there was also plenty of history found among the 1,000-plus people that lined Main Street to make it the most well attended Fourth of July parade in Barrington's history.
Claire Wally was sitting in her usual spot outside the Christian Science Reading Room offering cold water to anyone who needed a drink. In her 55th year attending the parade, Wally said it was great to see so many of Barrington's values and traditions remain intact during all the change she has seen in the last five decades.
"This is a really special day," Wally said of the sesquicentennial parade. "We always have a great turnout for the parade and it's great community bonding."
Others who have participated in the event for years said it was easy to feel something special and different about this year's parade.
Mike Ustick, a member of the Veterans of Lake Barrington, has participated in the parade the last three years. He said Saturday's event was the best crowd he has ever seen. Even through 150 years of history and change, the community has held on to its character, small-town roots and values, he added.
"It's a rarity today to see a town keep its character," Ustick said. "And it's because the people here are the best people in the world."