Arlington Heights prayer breakfast postponed to spring
The 35th annual Arlington Heights Mayor's Community Prayer Breakfast, originally scheduled for Thursday, has been postponed to the spring amid the recent COVID-19 surge.
Mayor Tom Hayes said the prayer breakfast committee followed the lead of the village special events commission's Heart of Gold Awards and the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce's gala, which were also postponed from their initial dates.
Of the three events, a new date has been set for the chamber's 75th anniversary soiree: Friday, Feb. 25, at the Cotillion Banquets in Palatine.
While preparing for last year's breakfast, the planning committee decided to have a virtual event amid uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.
This year, organizers wanted to return to an in-person gathering and meal.
That's still the intention, Hayes said Tuesday, but a rescheduled date hasn't been set. The committee is aiming for late April or early May, and is trying to secure a new date with the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel.
"We really wanted to hold an in-person event," Hayes said. "We were fortunate to pull off a virtual event last year. ... It was OK then, but to do it two years in a row we felt it would lose the meaning."
The yearly morning of multidenominational prayers, scripture readings, musical performances and reflections started as an offshoot to the national breakfast that began in 1953 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. It's traditionally held the first Thursday of February.
Adding another wrinkle to this year's Arlington Heights prayer breakfast is whether the scheduled keynote speaker will be able to return in the spring.
Mike Furrey was the wide receivers coach for the Chicago Bears until he was let go as part of former Head Coach Matt Nagy's staff. Furrey was originally scheduled to speak at the 2020 prayer breakfast, but had a scheduling conflict, and the team chaplain spoke instead.
"He was all set to speak, regardless of his status with the Bears, if it was going to be on Thursday," Hayes said of Furrey. "I think he would've done a great job and would've been a great speaker regardless of his status given he is man of faith, and I was looking forward to his message."
Hayes said he'd welcome Furrey to speak at the rescheduled breakfast, subject to his availability and where he may be employed.