Virtual La Grange Pet Parade Will Feature Local Celebrities

The La Grange Pet Parade will be an online video in 2020 and will air this coming Saturday, May 30 at 9:30a.m. The La Grange Pet Parade Committee asked local residents to send in 10-30 second clips of themselves and their families, “parading” through their neighborhood, for the Virtual Pet Parade. The parade will be approximately an hour long and will also feature local celebrities, Jim Peterik saluting the parade with his famous hit “Eye of the Tiger,” former Village of La Grange President Tom Livingston and Lyons Township High School alumnus and Broadview Fire Chief Tracy Kenny as Honorary Grand Marshals.

Team Mascots Southpaw of the White Sox and Staley of the Bears submitted videos of themselves with a beloved pet. Mrs. Illinois for America and Miss Illinois for America will also be featured.

Six year old Kindergartener of La Grange, Grace Mosqueda, will be seen in the video honored as the Junior Grand Marshal of the parade this year. She was given the title based on coloring contest results that took place earlier in the year.

Pet Parade Charities, is the non-profit who funds and coordinates the parade, gave a grant for the second year to K9’s for Veterans in Chicago to give a service dog to a veteran with PTSD. A video of the veteran with the service dog is also featured in the compilation.

The Virtual Parade will be aired on the original date, Saturday, May 30 at 9:30am on Comcast Cable Channel 6, AT&T Channel 99 and the website: youtube.com/LTTVonline. The parade video link will be posted on the Pet Parade website that morning as well, lagrangepetparade.org.

Currently, the video is being put together by Bill Allan, Supervisor of Television Services, of Lyons Township Television (LTTV). Allan and his team have been filming the parade for many recent years.

The La Grange Pet Parade started in 1947 by a group of local business owners, headed by Ed Breen of Breen’s Cleaners, intending to bring the community together around the idea of a pet and child costume contest parading down the main street of the Village of La Grange. The parade is celebrating 74 years in 2020 and will have a big 75 year celebration in 2021.