Swedish Days Parade draws thousands

The Medinah Clowns entertained spectators during the 60th Annual Swedish Days Parade Sunday, June 28, 2009 in Geneva. (Photo by Marcelle Bright for the Chronicle)

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

GENEVA –  Andrew Woods loves the Swedish Days Parade.

After all, it gives him an opportunity each year to don his chain mail and ride in a miniature mock Viking ship through downtown Geneva to the cheers of the thousands that line the parade route.

"It feels a lot like a triumphant victory march," said Woods, a full-time historian and part-time medieval historical reenactor, of Winfield. "That's really what gets me back in this boat again."

Sunday, Woods, who was with a group representing the Friends of the Viking Ship organization, was one of hundreds to march through Geneva as part of the 60th annual Swedish Days Parade.

Stepping off from the neighborhood surrounding Geneva High School, the parade featured entries from 82 organizations, including more than 60 from the Tri-Cities. The parade then followed its usual route, down Anderson Boulevard, before turning east on State Street and south on Third Street, ending at the Geneva Metra Station.

The parade was again presented by the Geneva Chamber of Commerce and the Viking Service Organization.

Steve Persinger, who is retiring as director of the Geneva Park District, served as ceremonial parade marshall, driven along the route in a horse-drawn carriage.

The parade was a little smaller than in previous years, said Ray Pokorny, who headed a group of eight volunteer parade marshals for the Viking Service Organization, whose job it was to make sure parade participants were in the right place at the right time.

"Our job is to take chaos and turn it into a parade," Pokorny said. "And there's still plenty of work to go around."

The parade again proved a popular draw, as thousands of spectators again lined the route from its beginning to the end.

Many of those living along the route on Anderson Boulevard used the occasion to host gatherings for friends and families, erecting shelters in the parkway grass and serving food to visitors.

Others, however, merely dropped in with folding chairs or a blanket to sit on, or sat on the curb.

Sheara Garrison, of St. Charles, arrived at the parade route with her two children, Kaitlyn, 6, and Michael, 4, just before the parade stepped off at 1 p.m.

Coming from the north down Anderson Boulevard, she said she was able to find a parking spot nearby and was able to quickly find an open spot to spread her blanket at the parade's starting point, at the corner of Anderson and Center Street.

"We got lucky, I think, to find this spot," Garrison said.

She said it was the first time she and her children had come down to the parade that ends Geneva's biggest summertime festival.

"This is a great time," Garrison said.

Her children agreed, with Kaitlyn adding that she particularly enjoyed the marching bands and Michael, the "jumping men," known formally as the Jesse White Tumblers, identified by others as a regular crowd favorite, as well.

In addition to various musical acts pulled along on floats, five bands marched in the parade.

First of the bands to march the route was the Second Time Around Marching Band of Geneva, a band constituted of adult musicians from throughout the region.

The band has marched in the parade for years, said Louise Bettinghaus, of Geneva, a member of the band's brass and wind section. She said the 2009 parade marked her sixth year marching in the parade.

"We're serious about our music, but we still have fun," Bettinghaus said. "And marching in this parade, seeing how the crowd responds to us and the way they cheer when we come around, it's just awesome.

"It makes you want to keep doing it."

The parade also offered an opportunity for local politicians, businesses and organizations to gain some easy publicity before thousands of local eyes.

And that, said Woods and his fellow Friends of the Viking Ship, is what draws them to the Swedish Days Parade, offering them the chance to get the word out about the 1893 World's Fair replica Viking ship, which is now housed in Good Templar Park in Geneva.

The Friends of the Viking Ship are trying to raise money to maintain and restore the ship, built in 1893 for the World's Fair in Chicago.

"It's great exposure for us," said Woods. "And being in the parade is just a lot of fun."