Once Again, a Grand Day for a Parade!

Thanks as so often to Dianne for this diary of the NTDO’s march in Monday’s Labor Day Parade (and to Jeff Szymczak for the great pictures):

After the parade

Under picture perfect skies and ideal late summer temps, about 150 enthusiastic Democrats marched proudly with either the Naperville Democrats’ entry or Governor Quinn’s in Naperville’s Last Fling end of summer Labor Day parade. With eighty helium filled blue balloons tied securely to belt loops and around wrists lifting gently into the sky, Naperville Democrats announced their presence in the parade, followed by the banner wielding, flag waving, candy tossing, blue-shirted multitudes! Governor Quinn’s bright green tee shirts and his enthusiastic marchers, led by former congressional candidate and Naperville resident, Scott Harper, led the way at entry #8 in this popular parade.

Congressman Foster greeting voters

Joined by candidates…Congressman Bill Foster, Forest Preserve Commissioner Shannon Burns, and Dennis Anderson (running in the 14th against Randy Hultgren)…and elected officials….Kim Savage (COD Trustee), Dianne McGuire (COD Trustee), Julia Beckman (Democratic State Central Committeewoman and District 99 School Board member), Jackie Traynere (Will County Board) and Laurie Nowak (DuPage County Board), we celebrated our victories and introduced our eager candidates to supporters along the way.

Dianne and some of our friends from Labor

A special note of thanks to our friends from Laborers Local 288! Casey Bobek, Business Manager, brought with him about 15 members, along with their families, to the parade and enough wrapped candy to keep every child along the parade route smiling…including me! (Never had a Lemonhead before!) They were dressed in great Laborers tee shirts, had their flags and banners waving and proudly represented organized labor and the huge contributions they have made to this country’s well being and its economy! Our friends from the IBEW 701 (Bill Habel) and Painters District 30 (Mark Guethle) were also well represented. The theme of our entry is always “A Salute to Labor” and we make sure the focus remains on their contributions!

A special note of thanks to Rose Johnson, Precinct 20 Committeewoman, and Kelley Higgins who helped put the parade together this year: not an easy task! And, to Joe Heneghan, (Lisle Township Vice Chair) who drove his car in the parade, with his great inflated donkey on the roof, and great labor songs pulsating through his public address sound system. Leaders from DuPage Township (Tom Braxton, Jim Kadlec), Wheatland Township (Hale Landes, Jackie Traynere), Milton Township (Marian and Gary Tomlinson), Downers Grove (Kim Savage, Bob Jeffers) also walked with either the Naperville Dems or the Governor.

Afterwards, at Sullivan’s

Following the parade, great fun was had by all the Democratic marchers at Sullivan’s Steakhouse, which provided us with one FREE seemingly endless round of great appetizers! Bill Foster addressed the crowd with insight into the discussions surrounding our possible military involvement in Syria. A raffle was held for 6 tickets to Great America and Ed Agustin, Precinct 6 Committeeman, won! It was truly a joyful event and our candidates, our elected folks, and all of our supporters were treated with great respect, clapping and enthusiasm as they marched through the streets of Naperville.

(See the full set of Jeff’s photos here.)

[ Updated to include another elected official who marched with us, (Steve, 9/4/13, 16:06) ]