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Morton Grove Days was holiday’s hot ticket
Ethan Larson, 10, of Morton Grove, gets his hair painted red, white and blue by Andy Shimanski before the marching in Morton Grove's Fourth of July Parade on July 4 in Morton Grove. | Jon Durr~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: July 9, 2012 3:22PM
MORTON GROVE — This year’s version of Morton Grove Days, the first festival put on by the independent Morton Grove Days Commission, included something for everyone in the family.
There was food from area restaurants, a beer garden, daily entertainment, carnival rides and games, and on July 4 a parade and fireworks display.
The four-day festival opened June 30 and July 1, and continues July 3 and July 4. The commission kept the event as a four-day festival but skipped Monday, when many people were working.
The event is at Harrer Park, 6150 Dempster St., and at the Morton Grove American Legion Civic Center, 6140 Dempster.
The North Shore Senior Center, which operates its Morton Grove Campus in the civic center, will be closed until July 9 to accommodate Morton Grove Days.
A highlight of the festival was the annual Fourth of July parade. The parade kicked off at 2:30 p.m. July 4 at Dempster and Central, and travel east on Dempster. Fireworks were at 9:45 p.m.
The event is sponsored by the Morton Grove Days Commission, an all-volunteer not-for-profit organization.
Until last year the Morton Grove Days organization worked under the auspices of the Morton Grove Park District. But after some disagreements in 2010 between the Park Board and committee the group became a commission of the village of Morton Grove.
The Morton Grove Days Commission is now incorporated as an independent nonprofit with its own board of directors.
The event was funded with donations, many of them from local sponsors. Among the major sponsors of this year’s festival were: Platinum Sponsor, the Morton Grove Foundation; and Gold Sponsors, mb Financial Bank, Jos Mullarkey Distributors and Groot Industries; and Bronze Sponsors, Morton Grove Chamber of Commerce, Lin Mar Motors and Morton Grove Moose Lodge 376.
Food vendors at the festival included Myron and Phil restaurant, Village Inn, Char House Grill and Kappy’s.
