Lombard Lilac parade ‘always a thrill’

Gail Clark expects this year’s Lilac Parade in Lombard to come at the perfect time.

“We hope that the parade coincides with the blooming of the lilacs,” said Clark, Lilac Parade committee chairwoman. “This year, I think it might because the lilacs are late because of the cool weather and the rain we’ve had. We may actually have lilacs for parade day, which is unusual.”

The Lombard Park District website features a “Lilac Time bloom ‘o’ meter” that registered just short of full bloom a few days before the parade, which steps off at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, May 15.

Parade participants this year will be competing to decorate their floats to the theme “Cause for Celebration,” said Mary Ann Caruso, parade marshal.

Some may choose to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first lilac being planted in the downtown Lombard property that now is Lilacia Park. Others may celebrate hamburgers or Boy Scouts or the Chicago Cubs. The theme should lead to a parade full of color and variety, Clark said.

“Everyone gets to pick their own theme as far as what their cause for celebration is,” Clark said. “Depending on how well they decorate to their choice, that’s how they will be judged.”

The parade steps off at 1:30 p.m. from Main Street and Wilson Avenue, and should take roughly two hours to progress north on Main Street to its end point on Maple Street, just east of Main.

It involves 110 entrants, including marching bands from Glenbard East and Willowbrook high schools, the Jesse White Tumblers, the Medinah Shriners and a group from Harry Caray’s restaurant inside the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center, including Caray’s wife, Dutchie.

Lombard resident Marymae Meyer, Lombard’s Woman of the Year and organizer of the International Lilac Society convention held in late April in Lombard, also will ride as the parade’s grand marshal.

For those who live too far away to save a parade-watching spot with chairs or blankets, Clark suggests arriving early and parking north of St. Charles Road to get a spot near the end of the route.

“It’s just a wonderful turnout,” Meyer said. “It’s such a tradition in Lombard that it doesn’t matter how many times you see it, it’s always a thrill.”