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Cicero celebrates 46th Annual Houby Day with Festival and Parade
By Ray Hanania
2014 Houby Festival Queen Molly Zajac Clark
The Town of Cicero will host four days of celebration for the HoubyFest beginning Thursday October 2, capping with the annual parade on Sunday that will feature more than 55 floats and displays.
This years’ Houby Day Queen is Molly Zajac Clark. Amber Morena is the 1st Runner Up Queen, and Isabel Evariz is Miss Congeniality. All three will greet parade attendees from the Queen’s Float.
This year’s Houby Festival is dedicated to the region’s children and the theme of the parade “Children First,” said Special Events Director Patti Dominick.
The HoubyFest Carnival will be held Thursday October 2 through Sunday October 5.
Entertainment includes live music beginning on Friday (October 3), Saturday (October 4) and Sunday (October 5). Bands include: Caliente and 16 Candles on Friday night; The Neverly Brothers, The New Invaders, The Personnel and Libido Funk Circus on Saturday beginning at 2 pm; and, Druha Rava, R-Gang, American English and 7th Heaven on Sunday beginning at 2 pm. The bands and carnival are located on Cermak Road between Lombard Avenue and Austin Blvd, on the L Strip.
The Houby Day Parade will kick-off Sunday at 12 noon on Cermak Road at 56th Court in Cicero and continue west into Berwyn. Each year, the direction of the parade alternates beginning in Cicero at 56th Court and in Berwyn at East Avenue. The festival will feature a carnival, children’s stage, crafters, food vendors and entertainment throughout the weekend.
The festival is celebrated by all but honors the Czech and Slovak heritages of Cicero and Berwyn. Houby is the Czech word for Mushroom which is a symbol of the Czech harvest.
The HoubyFest represents four decades of rich cultural tradition in the Berwyn Cicero area. The weekend long festival draws local residents as well as people from all around to experience food booths, vendors, carnival, arts and crafts, music, sidewalk sale, Houby Queen Pageant and much more. There are a variety of events scheduled throughout the week leading up to the weekend celebration. The Parade steps off Sunday at 12 Noon on Cermak Rd. Last year, more than 25,000 people lined Cermak Road to cheer the four hour parade.
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RayHananiaINN
Hanania covered Chicago political beats including Chicago City Hall while at the Daily Southtown Newspapers (1976-1985) and later for the Chicago Sun-Times (1985-1992). He published The Villager Community Newspapers covering 12 Southwest suburban regions (1993-1997). Hanania also hosted live political news radio talkshows on WLS AM (1980 - 1991), and also on WBBM FM, WLUP FM, WSBC AM in Chicago, and WNZK AM in Detroit.
The recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, Hanania was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media;In 2009, he received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. Hananiaalso received two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild, and in 1990 was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
Hanania writes columns for the Southwest Community Newspaper Group including the Des Plaines Valley News, the Southwest News-Herald, the Regional News and the Reporter Newspapers.
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