Parade Highlights Keepataw Days Festival

Hundreds packed the downtown area Monday for Lemont's perennial Labor Day parade.

The event capped the 61st Annual Keepataw Days Festival, which ran Sept. 3 through Sept. 6 in the Metra parking lot on Main Street.

The parade featured a number of local schools and organizations, including Lemont High School, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Lemont Hornets Football and Cheerleading. Village police, firefighters and government officials also marched in the event.

"I think this is the one thing that brings a lot of people from uptown downtown, so it's a really special event for us" said Greta Hayes, owner of the downtown antique shop Greta's Garret.

Keepataw Days featured live music, carnival rides and local food vendors throughout the weekend. The event is named after Chief Keepataw, one of Lemont's earliest Native American settlers.

This year's festival was put on by Keepataw Days Festival Inc., a non-profit group that came together after the event's previous organizers, the Lemont Jaycees, disbanded late last year.

"The weather gave us a little bit of trouble Friday, but overall it was a pretty good turnout," said Mike Carey, president of Keepataw Days Festival Inc.

The event was funded through donations, sponsorships and remaining tips from last year's beer garden. Local organizations will be given up to 75 percent of the tips from this year's festival.

"For it being our first year, we're very happy with how things went," Carey said. "We're definitely planning to do it again next year."

Lemont Mayor Brian Reaves praised the Keepataw Days organization for preserving one of the village's longest running traditions.

"We were very pleased that the festival continued," Reaves said. "It's really something that people look forward to every year."