Thousands of people attended Saturday’s inaugural Saint Patrick’s Day parade and celebration in downtown Grayslake.
Windy weather with temperatures in the mid-60s prevailed along a parade route that began at Gelatin Park and continued on Center Street, ending at Slusser Street. The breezy conditions caused flags on parade vehicles to dramatically unfurl.
People of all ages lined the parade route, with many dressed in festive attire. Nearly 40 parade entries were featured. Youngsters scrambled for candy and other giveaways such as small toys, including green rubber ducks.
The parade did have to pause for a few minutes due to a long, passing train, but then resumed to jubilant spectator fanfare. A line of decorated jeeps wowed the crowd.
After the parade, people could stay for afternoon activities that included face-painting and stage entertainment featuring the McNulty Irish Dancers and Celtic music.
The Grayslake Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored the first-ever event along with the Grayslake Village Center.
Maribeth Hamm of Antioch, the chamber’s executive director, said restaurants ran out of food at their outside food and beverage stations.
Lake County does not have many St. Patrick’s Day parades and municipal celebrations, Hamm said, “and I think our town can support one.”
“It is beyond exciting,” she said. “To know that you’re the start of something that could be huge, I think is really kind of cool.”
Allison Koch, the Village Center coordinator, said, “This is something that people have been asking for, to have some type of St. Patrick’s Day celebration here in the community, so we are so excited to partner together and bring this to the community.
“We were so excited to see the huge crowd,” she said. “With this being an inaugural event, we were both stunned and thrilled for the tremendous turnout. It was wonderful to see so many people from Grayslake and the surrounding communities come together on Center Street for an amazing day of Irish celebration.”
The parade grand marshal was outgoing Grayslake Mayor Rhett Taylor, who stood inside a vehicle waving at spectators.
“This is the very first St. Patrick’s Day parade for the village of Grayslake, so I’m so happy we’re doing this to bring benefit to our downtown,” he said. “And I’m thrilled to be the grand marshal.”
Serving green beer or other fare included Emil’s Tavern on Center at its outside counter. Among the servers was co-owner Bob Bowes.
“This is a wonderful town,” he said. “All the people are nice to each other, and like sitting next to each other and talking to each other.”
Makeup artist Angela Terracciano was busy with face- and hand-painting amid a line of children waiting their turn.
“It is so much fun,” she said. “To make them happy and to see their smiles, I love it.”
Adalynn Stanley, 8, a second-grader from Mundelein, had a rainbow painted on her face rainbow, complete with sparkling green shamrocks.
“It’s great,” Adalynn’s father Ryan said. “The kids love the face-painting, excited for the parade. They got a good turnout. Beautiful day.”
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, who walked the parade route, said, “Today, everybody’s Irish.”
“The world is in a hard spot,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of people divided, fighting with each other. But the most important thing is today we’re in Grayslake. The entire community is together. It’s crowded, and people are happy and celebrating. And that’s what we’re going to do today is celebrate community.”
