Victoria Cobbett estimates she has marched in at least 40 parades in her hometown of Lemont.
She said she has been in parades in other towns, too, and she and another group of females that served in the Marines planned to march Sunday in a Crystal Lake parade.
However, the 72-year-old Cobbett was in an unusual situation late Saturday afternoon. She and her grandson, Anthony Cobbett, were among the thousands lined up on 95th Street to watch the Oak Lawn Fourth of July Parade.
“It’s actually a novelty for me to watch a parade,” she said.
The Cobbetts arrived an hour before the 4 p.m. parade’s stepoff, which commenced in 90-degree weather with plenty of humidity.
Victoria said she was there to support marching Marines from Burbank and to show Anthony some patriotism.
Anthony, a Homer Glen resident who will be a freshman at Lockport Township High School in the fall, learned well.
Anthony and Victoria Cobbett attend their first Oak Lawn Fourth of July Parade June 29, 2024. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown)
“They are very patriotic,” he said. “I love my country. I love everything about it. And I want to be a Marine as well.”
Like grandmother like grandson.
Victoria, an inductee in the Lemont High School Alumni Hall of Fame in 2019, served in the Marines from 1970 to 1973 and made it to the rank of sergeant in a time when there were few women serving.
A person dressed as a monster from Midnight Terror Haunted House walks the parade route with other ghouls June 29, 2024 in Oak Lawn. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown).
A recruiter’s lunch determined her military path when she went to Joliet for a completely different idea of enlisting.
“I actually went to join the Air Force and the Air Force recruiter was out to lunch,” she said. “And this man came up in dress blues and said, ‘would you like to join the Marines?’ I said, ‘I didn’t know they had women in the Marines.’”
She stepped in the office and, when she left, she was gung-ho to be a Marine during the Vietnam War. Although she didn’t go to Vietnam, she spent three years working with computers in Cherry Point, North Carolina.
“I worked with computers back in the day when it was key punch cards and tape,” she said. “The microchip wasn’t invented. The disc wasn’t invented. The Internet wasn’t invented. And the computers were gigantic — like double-wide refrigerators.”
Cobbett said even though she was in an office doing mostly payroll work, she believes she made a significant contribution.
Whether it is marching or the rare times when she is a spectator, Cobbett loves parades and was looking forward to her first Oak Lawn parade experience.
“I enjoy seeing people waving their flags and it makes me think positive of our country,” she said.
This is the second year that Oak Lawn has hosted the parade the Saturday before Independence Day. It used to be held on the Fourth. The switch has mixed results.
“I like it on the Fourth,” said Oak Lawn’s Tom Heebner, who brought his sons Jack, Henry and Nick. “It’s a little too early and you don’t feel like you’re into it yet.
“But it’s good either way. We had fun.”
Oak Lawn’s Anne Tucker said she prefers the parade to step off on Independence Day but added “It’s nice because people have plans on the Fourth and can make it today.”
Fireworks in Oak Lawn will still be shot off Thursday from Richards High School.
Blackhawks mascot Tommy Hawk maneuvers by traffic lights atop his float June 29, 2024, as he entertains the parade crowd in Oak Lawn. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown)
There were activities after Saturday’s parade including food trucks, inflatables for children to bounce around in as well as a concert from Five Guys Named Moe.
The parade featured bands, sports mascots, scout troops, elected officials, politicians running for office, youth sports teams, civic groups, church groups, schools, clowns, Shriners’ Club members in tiny cars zipping around and a bunch of monsters from the Oak Lawn-based Midnight Terror Haunted House.
Suzie Kelly, who runs village events for Oak Lawn, likes the idea of hosting the parade the Saturday before Independence Day but said because July 4 falls on a Friday next year and on the weekends the following years, things could change.
“It’s good for our departments,” she said of the Saturday running of the parade. “They don’t have to come out on the holiday.
“I’m not sure we’re always going to keep it that way. There is talk about doing it again on the Fourth next year, but we have to decide.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
