Founders Day Parade Route, Parade Chairman Picked

We are excited to have the Medieval Times Queen and her Knights in Shining Armor lead our parade as the Grand Marshall. Can you imagine the looks on kids faces when they see such a majestic site coming down the parade route?

The Algonquin Founders’ Days Parade is one of the longest continuously ran parades in the greater Chicagoland area. Except for the historic Fox River flooding last year, not a year was missed in the past 58! This year we celebrate 20 years since Alan Kirk and his wife Sandy volunteered to take over running the parade. Their son Aaron has co-chaired the parade with his father since he was old enough to walk. Aaron says “Our parade is about the kids, letting them be seen in their glory in whatever activity they are involved in so the show must always go on!” This year is extra special because the parade chairmanship has officially been handed over to 15-year-old Aaron Kirk. We wish you well young man – please carry on your family legacy of community volunteerism. Aaron is an incoming Sophomore at Elgin Academy. He is also involved in other volunteer activities including United Way Reading Buddies, Elgin Breakfast Rotary, Ecker Center for Mental Health, PADS of Elgin, and he is a Vacation Bible School Leader. Aaron received the 2017 Presidents Volunteer Award and was recognized by the Village of Algonquin for a lifetime service award.

The parade will commence at 11:00am on Saturday July 28th. As usual it should be about 2 hours long. Parade entries start showing up in the staging area down Eastgate South of Algonquin Road around 9am. The parade route will be the same as usual, starting at Eastgate Road, turning West on Algonquin Road over the Fox River Bridge. But this year it will turn South on South Harrison Street and end at Washington Street due to the construction on Main Street. South Harrison and 2 Lanes of Algonquin Road East of Harrison will shut down around 10:30am. Get there early to mark your spot and afterwards head over to Spella Park on the West side of town to enjoy the festival. If you or someone you know could volunteer during the parade, please email [email protected] or visit the fest website www.algonquinfoundersdays.com and find the volunteer sign up link.