Publications & Sites 
Where to celebrate Independence Day
Fireworks explode over Walker Park during last year's Fourth of July celebration. | Jeff Krage~for Sun-Times Media
Updated: July 20, 2012 11:42AM
There’s no shortage of things to do to celebrate Independence Day in the area. Towns have picnics, festivals, fireworks and parade son schedule.
Burr Ridge
Boy Scout Troop 69 will hold its 13th annual Fourth of July Pancake Breakfast from 7:30 to 11 a.m. in Walker Park, 74th and Wolf, Burr Ridge. Guests can enjoy all the pancakes, sausage, eggs, fruit, juice and coffee they want for $5, payable at the door. Children under 5 eat free.
Clarendon Hills
A twist in the calendar this year will bring music to the Fourth of July celebration in Clarendon Hills.
With Independence Day on a Wednesday, the weekly concert series Dancin’ in the Street will become the early evening focus of festivities, replacing the Clarendon Hills Park District’s annual celebration at Prospect Park.
Sorry for Partying will perform for the downtown concert. Food and drinks will be available at 6 p.m. and the band will start playing at 6:30 p.m. downtown on North Prospect and Park avenues.
Afterward people are invited to walk to Prospect Park, 315 Chicago Ave., to watch the fireworks shot off from the Hinsdale Country Club. Glowsticks and freeze pops will be passed out at Prospect Park. Bring blankets and lawn chairs. Call (630) 323-2626.
Countryside
The Chicagoland Chapter of the Gran Sport Club of America is hosting the July 4 Car Show from 10 am.-2 p.m. July 4 at IUOE Local 150 Hall, 6200 Joliet Road, Countryside. Doors open at 8 a.m. with registration closing at noon. Voting continues until 1 p.m. with trophies awarded at 2 p.m. There is a $10 entry fee. All monies go to the Local 150 Food Pantry. See www.July4CarShow.com.
Hinsdale
The Independence Day Celebration begins at 10 a.m. with a parade, stepping off from Sixth and Garfield streets. The parade will move north on Garfield to First Street, then turn west on First to Grant Street. The final leg will be south on Grant back to Sixth, where the parade ends.
Turtle races are held at 11:30 a.m. (after the parade) as part of the Family Festival in Burlington Park, 19 E. Chicago Ave., which runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will include free inflatable play rooms, face painting and tabletop carnival games. Food will be available for purchase.
The West Suburban Concert Band performs from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., and an arts & crafts fair runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
La Grange
Fireworks are scheduled at dusk, about 9:30 p.m., July 3 at Waiola Park for fans to watch a display at the nearby La Grange County Club, which limits admission to members and guests. Fans instead may gather at the park bounded by 47th and 48th streets and Waiola and Stone avenues.
A crew from Lyons Township High School’s WLTL radio station will do a remote broadcast of music at the park on FM-88.1 before the display and then will simulcast music choreographed to the fireworks.
Alternative viewing sites are suggested along Brainard Avenue, from 47th Street to 55th Street; Linkletter Court, west of the country club; and Edgewood Avenue, adjacent to the rear entrance of Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital.
Westchester
Two hockey celebrities and a radio station will be featured during and after the Westchester Independence Day parade, beginning at 9:30 a.m. July 4.
Tommy Hawk, the official mascot of the Chicago Blackhawks, will sign autographs and pose for photos with fans following the parade from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Westchester Park District Community Center, 10201 Bond St.
Hammy the Hog, mascot for the Rockford Icehogs American League team affiliated with the Blackhawks, will march in the parade along with representatives of 670 The Score/CBS Radio.
The parade begins at Mayfair Avenue and travels east on Dorchester Avenue, which becomes Balmoral Avenue and bends north east of La Grange Road. The route turns east on Canterbury, and then heads south on Newcastle Avenue and west on Bond Street to the park district building.
Westmont
Westmont will host its celebration beginning at 4 p.m. on July 4 in Ty Warner Park, 75 E. Richmond St., with food vendors, kids crafts, a petting zoo, games and cake.
The evening will include a watermelon eating contest at 7 p.m. and a band concert from 7:30-9:15 p.m. The fireworks will begin at 9:30 p.m.
People are encouraged to park in the lots at Westmont High School or Westmont Junior High School, both on the 900 block of North Oakwood Drive.
Cantigny
Cantigny Park, 1S151 Winfield Road, Wheaton, will be alive with patriotic sights, sounds and activities for the whole family on Independence Day. Events and parking will be free at Cantigny on July 4. The park will open at 7 a.m.; special holiday programming is from noon-4 p.m. The First Division Museum and McCormick Museum will each be open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. July 4. Lunch and snacks are available. See www.cantigny.org.
