Full slate of Memorial Day activities set to return to Arlington Heights
Arlington Heights will have a full slate of activities and remembrances in the lead up to Memorial Day, two years after the pandemic canceled many of those events or made them virtual.
The Memorial Day parade - perhaps the largest of its kind in the suburbs - is back on at 9:30 a.m. Monday, May 30, after a two-year absence, confirmed Greg Padovani, chairman of the Veterans Memorial Committee of Arlington Heights.
The annual 1.25-mile parade, which runs from village hall to Memorial Park, has regularly attracted about 100 marching units of more than 3,000 people, with as many as 10,000 spectators watching along the route. It commemorated its centennial in 2019.
Padovani in recent weeks emailed parade applications to previous participants, including veterans and civic groups, school bands and businesses.
He also attached a copy of the Arlington Remembers sign that's prominent in local storefronts and along the parade route. On the back is a list of the 58 young men from Arlington Heights who died in service to the nation from the Civil War to the war in Afghanistan.
The 11 a.m. Memorial Day ceremony at Memorial Park will again honor Arlington's fallen heroes with the reading of their names. Also at the ceremony, a Silver Star pinning ceremony is planned for local veteran Staff Sgt. Steve Nash, an Army ranger who served in the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993.
Ahead of Memorial Day, North School Park will host "Remembering Our Fallen," a national, traveling, photographic memorial of the 4,968 U.S. military personnel who died in service between Sept. 11, 2001, and Aug. 30, 2021. The exhibit will arrive at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, May 12, escorted by members of Rolling Thunder Illinois Chapter 2 and Knights on Bikes. An opening ceremony will follow at noon.
There will be a daily opening prayer and Pledge of Allegiance at 7 a.m. May 13, 14 and 15 at the park, and evening ceremonies at 5 p.m. May 13 and 14. A closing ceremony is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. May 15. Among the scheduled speakers are family members of Marine Lance Cpl. James Stack, the 20-year-old from Arlington Heights who died in 2010 in Afghanistan and is featured in the photographic exhibit.
"This gives people an opportunity to realize that those who serve in the military are not from somewhere else. They are the kid from down your street," said his father Bob Stack, in an announcement of the exhibit. "They're the kid who mowed lawns in your neighborhood. I think sometimes that gets lost. Displays like this remind us of that."
The exhibit is produced by Nebraska-based Patriotic Productions Inc. and is being coordinated locally by Padovani's committee and the Northern Illinois District Knights of Columbus.
Finally on Saturday, May 28, Salute, Inc.'s Memorial Day weekend run and walk returns after a two-year hiatus, raising funds to help military families with housing costs, utility bills, car expenses and food. The 5K run and one-mile walk begins at 8 a.m. at Recreation Park, and new this year, will allow dogs to participate in the walking route.
For more information, visit saluteinc.org/events/salute-5k-1mi and kofcnd1.com/project.