13-03-2025
‘Irish flare' to be front and center Saturday at Naperville's St. Patrick's Day Parade
Saturday's West Suburban Irish Naperville St. Patrick's Day Parade in downtown Naperville is a true community event, featuring more than 3,000 participants and typically bringing out about 10,000 spectators.
But this year it will be marching on without its founding father, Kevin Dolan, who died Feb. 25 at age 86. The loss weighs heavy on their hearts, parade chair Rich Janor said, but the West Suburban Irish will present an event fitting of his memory.
'He started the parade back in 1993 and was also the founder of the West Suburban Irish organization,' Janor said.
'The first parade was just a small, four-block march from the VFW in town to Mill Street. Since that time, we'll have between 90 and 100 entries this year. It's definitely a tradition that our community looks forward to each year. But certainly, Kevin will be on our minds and in our hearts and in our prayers, as well as his family, as we approach this year's parade.'
This is Janor's second year chairing the event and he hopes he can live up to the legacy Dolan has left behind, he said.
'The parades have always been a fun, family-oriented, feel-good event, especially as spring is starting,' he said. 'It's kind of the official start of spring, maybe not on paper but at least in the community.'
The parade steps off at 10 a.m. Saturday at Naperville North High School at the corner of Mill Street and Ogden Avenue. From there it goes south on Mill Street and east on Jefferson Avenue through downtown before turning south onto Main Street to Aurora Avenue. It ends at Naperville Central High School at Webster and Porter avenues.
A celebration of Irish heritage and culture, there will be traditional Irish dance groups, bagpipe and drum bands, and West Suburban Irish entries promoting Irish Fest in September, Janor said.
St. Patrick himself is an annual staple of the parade as are the American Legion and VFW Color Guard, the Firefighters Highland Guard of Naperville and the St. Patrick's Residence, he said. Businesses, politicians, youth sports teams, scout troops and community groups also will be walking the route.
'Some of my favorite entries are the traditional Irish dance groups — the McNulty Irish Dancers have been a staple in the parade. Weber's School of Irish Dance will be a part of the parade. People like to see the traditional Irish dance groups,' Janor said.
'The parade will once again start (with groups) people who come to the St. Patrick's Day parade expect to see — bagpipes, Irish dancers and that type of thing. … Quigley's Irish Pub will have a nice entry. You'll definitely see Irish flare throughout the parade.'
The grand marshal of the parade is Loaves and Fishes Community Services, who will be represted by its president, Mike Havala.
'They celebrated their 40th anniversary in the community this year. We thought it would be appropriate to recognize not only Mike but their entire organization,' Janor said. 'The West Suburban Irish has certainly supported the organization over the years and they've been a great partner as well.'
Among the unique groups that will be participating are the Medina Shriners, he said.
'They entertain in a number of different ways, from the police cars to the clowns,' he said. 'We've got a BMX bike group coming to do some entertainment. We want to make sure we've got a good balance of business-type entries versus entries that are more entertaining.'
Expect the 'wee folk' in the crowd to be dressed for the occasion and ready to grab the treats thrown from the floats and other participants, Janor said.
'A lot of kids will line up their chairs and candy bags early and stake out their spot,' he said. 'It certainly is a kid-friendly parade. You see a lot of kids dressed in leprechaun hats and green sunglasses.'
All participants and entries are encouraged to be as festive as possible, he said.
'It's just a really unique event with excellent participation from many different groups in the community,' Janor said. 'It's a feel-good, family event to kick off St. Patrick's Day weekend.'
