Car parade helps Arlington Heights couple celebrate 70th anniversary

Evelyn Lumpp knew something was up Wednesday when she spotted the red lights of a police SUV driving toward her home in Arlington Heights' Luther Village.

The rest was a surprise, as the squad was just the first in a line of 10 cars filled with family and friends taking part in a vehicle parade to help her and her husband, Bill, celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary.

"With the pandemic, we couldn't even get together to go to dinner or have a party, so why don't we have a parade?" said the couple's daughter, Barbara Foulks, who organized the celebration. "It's a big deal. How many people make 70 years?"

Parade participants drove by honking horns and waving signs wishing them well as the couple came out on their patio to enjoy the spectacle.

Bill, 91, is a U.S. Army veteran who served in Korea and up until last year was still working on his golf game and climbing ladders to clean the gutters. Evelyn, 87, is known among family and friends for her special cocktail meatballs and fudge, but hasn't yet divulged her secret recipes.

Asked what the secret was to making it to your 70th wedding anniversary, Evelyn said, "Go along with everything, you just don't argue, you just agree with whatever happens."