Streamwood parade focuses on home

Elements of the “Wizard of Oz” were scattered throughout the “No Place Like Home” parade Saturday as part of this year’s Streamwood Summer Celebration.

And just like Dorothy, longtime Mayor Billie Roth wore a blue-and-white checkered gingham dress while waving from a passing convertible.

The parade stepped off at the intersection of Streamwood Boulevard and Bartlett Road, traveled west to Madison Drive, then headed south to Irving Park Road before ending at the festival grounds.

Cathy Riley, who lives right in front of the parade’s starting point, hosted a pre-parade party for employees and patrons of Streamwood’s Chicago Loop Sports Bar and Grill.

Nearly 100 people attended the party before the parade’s start and a few dozen stuck around to watch from there, including a group that enjoyed the comfort of a sectional sofa set up on Riley’s driveway.

“Every year, we do this in our yard before the parade and they usually line up right in front of here,” Riley said.