Homewood Pushes Fourth Of July Parade One More Year

HOMEWOOD, IL — The Village of Homewood announced that it will be pushing the annual Fourth of July Parade one more year.

The village said it is choosing to push the annual event back because it draws a large crowd of people, many of which are under the age of 12. Kids under 12 years old are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, and kids 12 and up are able to receive the Pfizer shot.

"Homewood is taking this prudent approach to keep everyone in our community safe and healthy," the village said in a statement. "The decision was made that the Fourth of July parade would be postponed one more year while we begin to reintroduce events back into our community."

The village said event organizers began planning early to bring safe, locally focused events to the community this Independence Day, but ultimately decided to push the event once more.

"Canceling the parade is the cautious thing to do, noting that the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to stress that anyone who is not fully vaccinated remains at risk of contracting and spreading the virus," the village said.

Meanwhile, in Flossmoor, Summer traditions are getting back to "normal," as the village announced the annual Flossmoor Volunteer Fire Department Independence Day Parade will take place on July 3, to kick off the celebratory weekend in the United States.

The event will have people of all ages marching down Flossmoor Road in the downtown area of Flossmoor. A parade line will start at 9:30 a.m. in the Parker Junior High School parking lot. It will begin at 10 a.m. and a demonstration of fire department operations will follow in Downtown Flossmoor.

In 2020, the annual event was held differently, as the Flossmoor Volunteer Fire Department paraded through neighborhoods in town. Some residents decorated their homes and yards in red, white and blue to get in the spirit.

On Friday, Illinois moved into the fifth and final phase of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's Restore Illinois plan, after 13 months of the phased coronavirus reopening was first announced. The move comes as the state's rate of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations have fallen to their lowest level since the early weeks of the coronavirus outbreak in Illinois.

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