Members of Orland Park's Dance Company dance during Sunday's holiday parade. (Photos by Jeff Vorva)
Orland Park gets in the holiday spirit with parade and tree lighting
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau dons a Santa hat and hands out candy during the parade.
By Jeff Vorva
The Village of Orland Park’s lighting of the Christmas tree ceremony has been going on for decades, but its holiday parade just completed its sophomore run.
The second holiday parade kicked off the festivities on Sunday followed by Mayor Keith Pekau and a group of children pulling the switch to not only light the village’s Christmas tree, but a large group of lighted décor items displayed near Village Hall.
Santa Claus greets children and families at the Orland Park Civic Center on Sunday.
The Civic Center housed food, entertainment, items for purchase and a long line for families to visit Santa.
Thousands turned out for the event and the mayor enjoyed seeing that.
“The turnout was great,” he said. “The event keeps getting bigger and bigger and the parade was great. People enjoyed it. The rain held off.
“We have a great community and it shows when everyone comes out for these events.”
Some of the parade entrants were from Automedics Inc., Baird and Warner, Bobby’s UltiMUTT Dog Training, Calvary Church, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin Catholic School, Carl Sandburg High School Chamber Singers, Carl Sandburg High School Marching Band, City Nation Studios/Dance Workshop, Cub Scouts Pack 372 Orland Park, European Wax Center, EXP Realty, Granite Mountain, Heights Cycle, Hobby Town, Jingle Johns, Miss National American Teen, Nicky V’s Food Truck, North American Beauty Pageant and Northwestern Medicine .
Also marching and walking in the parade were the Orland Park Area Chamber of Commerce, the Orland Park Children’s Theater, the Orland Park Fire Service Unit 614, the Orland Park Pioneers Football organization, the Orland Park Public Library, the Orland Park Recreation and Parks Department, Orland Park Special Recreation, Orland Park Sting Football Club, Orland School District 135 the Orland Township Highway Department, the Orland Youth Association, Ozinga Merry Mixer, Polish Folklore Dance Group Mali Hyrni, Boys Scouts of America Troop 318, Shine.FM 89.7, the Village of Orland Park Public Works , the Village of Orland Park Mini, Junior and Senior Dance Company and the Village of Orland Park officials.
Bringing up the rear of the parade was Santa himself.
Members of Orland Park’s village board pose after the lighting of the Christmas tree on Sunday.
Local News
Students help design new District 230 logo
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva District 230 has a new logo. Students Tina Alkayed (Sandburg), Nycholas Golla (Stagg) and Trinity Walker (Andrew) teamed with Director of Communications Carla Erdey and Five Star Design branding specialist Laura Gilarski to work on the logo, which was unveiled at the Dec. 16 board meeting at Sandburg. “It’s a…
Praise Biden for naming blacks to the bench
Spread the loveBy Ben Jealous One of the most important reasons to vote Donald Trump out of the White House was to stop him from packing our federal courts with even more anti-voting-rights, anti-equality, pro-corporate judges. Stopping the flood of bad Trump judges was a huge accomplishment for every organizer and voter who helped elect Joe Biden as…
Our youth need to learn patriotism
Spread the loveBy William O. Lipinski Back in the 1960s, long before I ran for alderman of the 23rd Ward or the U.S. Congress, I was working in the recreation department of the Chicago Park District. It was the time of the Vietnam War. I had just completed my six years in the Army reserves and…
New laws taking effect
Spread the loveStatewide jump in minimum wage ‘just a start’ By Bob Bong and Peter Hancock Capitol News Illinois Minimum-wage workers across Illinois will see a boost in their hourly pay to $12 per hour starting Jan. 1, while tenants in affordable housing units will be allowed to keep pets. Those are just some…
Three Wise Men at Snows
Spread the love Portraying the Three Wise Men at the Christmas pageant at Our Lady of the Snows School this year were Yarely Garibay, Noah Rosas and Amira Cepeda. The three eighth graders were part of “Las Posadas” a nine-night depiction of Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to stay and where Jesus Christ…
Pekau’s COVID-19 stance harms seniors
Spread the loveBy Ray Hanania Nearly 75 percent of the 800,000 Americans who died from COVID-19 were 65 years of age or older. That number jumps to almost 90 percent when you include those 55 years of age and older. The virus affects people differently. The younger and healthier more easily survive. For seniors, it is a…
- « Previous
- 1
- …
- 364
- 365
- 366
Neighbors
After 9 months, state data begins to detail new pretrial detention system
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Nine months after cash bail ended in Illinois, the state is taking its first steps in publishing the data that crafters of the bail reform law saw as essential to judging its effectiveness. The data shows that judges in the 75 counties served by the Illinois Supreme Court’s…
ILLINOIS LAWMAKERS: Pritzker keeps economic development at forefront in exclusive interview
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com With fiscal year 2025 slated to begin Monday, Gov. JB Pritzker continues to tout available state tax incentives and promote Illinois as a site for business development. On the season finale of “Illinois Lawmakers” this week, Pritzker pointed to a pair of developments in East Alton and Normal…
Pritzker calls SCOTUS emergency abortion ruling ‘small respite’ as state protections await his signature
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Abortion remains legal as an emergency medical procedure in Idaho, for now, after a Thursday U.S. Supreme Court ruling, while a bill that would cement those protections in Illinois law awaits Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature. The 6-3 decision saw the three liberal justices concur with the order. Three…
‘We don’t really know what we’re voting on,’ top Dem says of Pritzker’s prison plan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com LINCOLN – On the eve of a scheduled vote to advise Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration on plans to close and rebuild a pair of dilapidated state prisons, hundreds filed into a junior high school gymnasium Thursday evening clad in matching green T-shirts. Printed on the shirts was a…
SCOTUS ruling could upend federal corruption cases for Madigan, allies
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday narrowed the scope of a federal bribery law prosecutors have relied on in their cases against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and several of his allies convicted of bribing him. A jury last spring found those allies – former lobbyists and…
Quantum technology companies set for big tax incentives under new law
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday gave final approval to a plan to bolster the state’s tech industry, including an incentives package – backed by $500 million in the state budget – aimed at making Illinois the nation’s leader in quantum computing. The package also expands tax…
Illinois child tax credit: who gets it, how much is it?
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com In the final hours of their spring legislative session, Illinois lawmakers approved a tax credit of up to about $300 for families with young children. The credit is available to Illinoisans with children under age 12 who qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. Although…
Illinois’ ban on ‘bump stocks’ remains in place despite U.S. Supreme Court decision
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – An Illinois law banning the sale and use of “bump stocks” and other devices that increase the firing power of semiautomatic weapons remains in place, at least for now, despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision Friday striking down a federal ban on such items. “Illinois law…
Another Choate Mental Health Center employee indicted for abuse of resident
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com Another caregiver at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna is facing charges for abusing a patient. A grand jury indicted Joseph A. Clark, 24, of Grand Chain, on a felony charge of aggravated battery and a misdemeanor charge of battery. Clark pinned a Choate resident to…
State highway shootings decline as critics sue over ‘dragnet surveillance’
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois State Police say an automated license plate reader program has helped the agency identify witnesses or suspects in 82 percent of highway shooting cases this year, including all eight that resulted in a death. But as the state looks to further expand its network of more than…
