Lilac Time blooming with fun at Lombard parade

Lombard's Main Street bloomed with marching bands, vintage vehicles and Shriners riding miniature vehicles in circles Sunday during the annual Lilac Time parade.

Spectators along the 1.5-mile parade route were captivated by the spectacle that kicked off with sirens from first-responder vehicles and unspooled over two hours on a sunny afternoon.

Among the parade-watchers was Genet Pinkerton of Elmhurst, who viewed the march as her 16-year-old miniature pinscher and pug, Moose, sat perched in a stroller with her collapsible doggy bowl.

"My parents used to live on Main Street," she said. "I used to come every year."

Others, including Jeremy Prusa, carried on the tradition of opening garages and driveways along the parade route for a good old-fashioned cookout.

He said he began the tradition when he moved to his home nearly 20 years ago. At its height, he said, more than 100 people gathered for the event.

Sunday's gathering enjoyed beef sandwiches, pizza, salads, desserts and "enough beer and seltzer for everybody."