Lombard Fire Dept. plans annual toy parade

The Lombard Fire Department has been busy at work attempting to fill more stockings this year by once again increasing its annual toy parade drive.

This year, the Lombard Fire Department is asking for community groups, businesses and families to “adopt a street” along the parade route. The toy parade, which will be held on Dec. 11, traditionally travels south on Main Street from Fire Station 1. The idea is that anyone wishing to donate toys can stand along the route (on the west side of the street) with their donations and hand them over to firefighters as the parade makes its way to Yorktown, the ultimate destination for the toys.

“It's an awesome sight to see people lined up, especially the children, waiting for the firemen to get to their corner,” said Firefighter/Paramedic Dan Ekhart, who along with Firefighter/Paramedic Josh Hays and other committee members are organizing the toy drive. “Whether it's cold or not, people have been coming out to support this effort for ten years, and our hope is that they keep coming out,” Ekhart added.

The fire trucks will leave Fire Station 1 on St. Charles Road at approximately

10:30 a.m. with a goal of reaching Glenbard East High School at about 11:30 a.m. From Glenbard East, the fire trucks will caravan over to Yorktown Center, where the toys will be unloaded and brought into the mall for the toy drive.

This year, Yorktown Center will feature Radio Disney. The mall location for the toy drive will be the center atrium, located just outside Carson's. The radio station will be giving away a family four pack of tickets to the Museum of Science and Industry to the first 50 people to bring donations to Yorktown Center mall starting at 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. The toy collection sleigh will be at Yorktown accepting donations through Dec. 8.

Collection bins are located at the village hall, Schroeder's Ace Hardware, the Lombard Jewel, the Lombard Starbucks on North Avenue and all District 44 Schools as well as the fire stations, for those who do not live along or near the parade route. For anyone interested in adopting a location along Main Street, please contact Joelyn Kott, Communications Coordinator, at (630) 620-5718.