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Community Corner

As Time Marches On, Lake Forest Stays In Step

Lake Forest Days' carnival and parade mark 103rd edition.

Lake Forest celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, but not far behind is Lake Forest Day, which marks its 103rd running Tuesday and Wednesday at .

This year’s theme is, “A Time to Celebrate,” in honor of the city’s 150th anniversary. The carnival opens at 6 p.m. and runs until 11 Tuesday, and then runs all day on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., following the Lake Forest Day parade at 10 a.m. down Western Avenue.

The first Lake Forest Day celebration was organized in 1908 by a group of ladies known as the Lake Forest Women’s Club, according to Lake Forest Day: 100 Years of Celebration, compiled by the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society.

The first-ever event was intended to raise funds for a separate contagious disease facility during a time when tuberculosis was common. The women’s club used two-thirds of the total profit, $857.40, to fund the facility, which became known as the Pest House.

Many owners of prominent businesses helped plan and prepare for the event. Among them were Edward J. Monahan, chocolate shop owner, Alan Murrie of the Murrie Blacksmith Shop, James Anderson of Anderson Grocery & Dry Goods store, and John E. Fitzgerald, who owned a plumbing and heating business. It was truly a community effort.

The O’Neill family of O’Neill Hardware Store also was involved heavily. Mrs. Charles O’Neill organized the booths. Walter O’Neill chaired the parade committee and organized the baseball games (in which teams were separated into single men and married men). He also organized the many races: foot races, greased pig races, spoon races, egg races and potato races.

“It was a big celebration with sack races and home-made ice cream,” said Bill Malich, chairman of the Lake Forest Days Committee for the last 15 years.

Adults paid just 25 cents to enter the carnival on Farwell field in Lake Forest. With every race imaginable, food tents, shopping, and mystical attractions such as a mind-reading dog, palmistry and fortune telling, it was quite a sight.

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The hottest attraction was the lift-off of a hot-air balloon, from which a man performed a trapeze act before parachuting down.

In 1921, the event was handed over to Lake Forest American Legion Post 264. Post 264’s color guard has been in every parade since, and it continues to plan the event each year.

Parades did not start until the early 1920s; however, the parade was canceled for a couple years due to World War I, resuming in 1923. The parades were canceled again from 1929-1937 due to the Great Depression.

The parade’s theme is chosen each year by Post 264. Some memorable themes include:

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  • 1960 -  A Salute to Alaska and Hawaii (New States)
  • 1971 – A Salute to Youth (voting age is 18)
  • 2001 – World War II veterans, according to Post 264’s records.

The parade of 1955 was a particularly special one. The parade honored Theodore S. Proxmire for 50 years of medical service and delivering more than 3,000 babies. Holding balloons were hundreds of the babies he delivered – most fully grown adults by then – who marched alongside him or watched from the side.

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