Northwest suburbs salute red, white and blue

Towns throughout Northwest Cook County celebrated the Fourth of July Friday with traditional hometown parades.

One of the largest and earliest was in Hoffman Estates, where at 9 a.m., families lined Hassell Road armed with lawn chairs, large coffees and bottles of Gatorade.

A chorus of fire and police sirens announced the start of the parade.

At the head of the line, a tight block of Hoffman Estates police officers marked time in front of village hall as onlookers rose to their feet, snapped pictures and applauded.

At an opening between fire trucks from several surrounding communities, small children entered the parade route on bikes decorated with red, white and blue ribbons.

Teenagers walked along the parade route, handing out multicolored roses from a local florist.

Children dived into the street to collect pieces of candy scattered by people on vehicles traversing the parade route.

The usual rash of politicians walked, handing out fliers and shaking hands with constituents.

It was Hoffman Estates resident David Hank's second time at the annual parade.

"I enjoyed it last year, so I came back up," Hank said. "I always have fun up here."

Hank, who moved to the area in 1980, said Hoffman Estates' parade was the perfect size.

"I like a smaller parade rather than a big one," Hank said. "You can get closer to the events."

Joe Jefferson has been coming to the parade since he was a kid and said it seems to grow each year. "There always seems to be a bigger turnout."