Lombard brings Lilac Time to a close with Main Street parade

The lilacs of Lombard have had their moment in the sun.

For a few fleeting weeks, visitors to Lilacia Park were rewarded with abundant blooms and an uplifting fragrance.

Their floral beauty is now fading, but Lilac Time is going out with a purple splash. The festival celebrating Lombard's favorite flower ends Sunday with a parade down Main Street. In keeping with tradition, dignitaries marching in the parade and crowds along the route should be wearing various shades of purple, the dominant color of Lilac Time.

Lilacs were a gift to Lombard from Col. William R. Plum, a Civil War veteran, upon his death in 1927. The colonel and his wife, Helen, brought lilac bushes back home to Lombard from their European travels in the early 1900s. Their private garden grew into Lilacia Park (pronounced Lye-lay-sha) Park and cultivated a villagewide love of lilacs.

The parade will step off at Glenbard East High School and head north toward Maple Street at 1:30 p.m. Sunday with the theme, "Celebration of Laughter." Main Street will be closed to all vehicle traffic from Central to Parkside avenues shortly before the parade begins.

This year's grand marshal is Marguerite Micken, who has served on the village's community promotion and tourism committee. The 1.5-milelong parade typically lasts about two hours.