Highland Park is bringing back its Independence Day celebrations two years after a gunman opened fire during the community’s annual parade, killing seven people and wounding dozens of others.
This year’s parade, themed “Sweet Home Highland Park,” will kick off at 1 p.m. along a new route through downtown, the city and Park District of Highland Park said in a news release Wednesday.
“Independence Day has traditionally been a special opportunity for our community to come together with beloved traditions,” Mayor Nancy Rotering said in a statement. “As we continue our journey as one Highland Park, we do so with respect, compassion and support for all whose lives were forever changed on July 4, 2022, while maintaining the community spirit that has always been a hallmark of Highland Park’s Independence Day events.”
On the one-year anniversary of the attack last year, the Highland Park community came together for a ceremony to honor the victims. Instead of a traditional parade, thousands marched through downtown together to reclaim the route from the tragic memory.
Roberta Dietzen, whose husband was wounded in the attack, thinks it’s a good thing that the parade is being held again after the city took a year of reflection in 2023.
“You can’t stop all these wonderful things from happening because of this incident,” she said. “I’m all for it.”
Susan Vanderhorst, who was at the parade two years ago, said the reintroduction of the traditional parade is a step toward the community getting back some sense of normalcy.
“I know there are people that are never going to recover because of their physical injuries, but I think mentally it helps us all to move on,” Vanderhorst said. “Of course no one is going to forget it.”
Before the parade, a remembrance ceremony will be held indoors at 10 a.m. on July 4 officials said.
The city and park district is also again holding its Fourth Fest family event after the parade. The festival will feature rides, carnival games, a petting zoo and other family-themed activities at Sunset Woods Park. Fireworks aren’t scheduled to take place.
City officials said those who plan to participate in the parade must register in advance. More details can be found on the city’s website.
Organizers took a trauma-informed approach to planning the events with guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Victims of Crime and community-based mental health clinicians, city officials said.
Vanderhorst said she still struggles with anxiety around crowds, and wasn’t planning on attending this year’s celebrations in Highland Park. News about mass shootings and fireworks trigger her memories of the massacre.
Though she’s glad the parade is happening again, the heavy police presence will make it hard to not relive the attack, Vanderhorst said. “I know they are going to have to do that, but it’s kind of hard, because the kids are going to have that in their mind seeing that too.”
The trial date for Robert Crimo III, the alleged gunman, has been postponed until Feb. 24, 2025. In January, Crimo reappointed his lawyers, who asked to delay the trial.
Crimo has been held at Lake County Jail since he was charged days after the attack. Crimo allegedly opened fire from a rooftop overlooking the Highland Park Fourth of July parade.
He faces 117 felony counts, including three counts of murder for each person killed. If convicted on two or more of the charges, Crimo faces life in prison.
Ashbey Beasley, who was at the parade with her son during the shooting and has since become a vocal gun violence prevention activist, said the community has worked hard to move forward, and holding the parade again is a step in the healing process.
She said the plan for a new route is a good way to honor tradition while respecting those who still have trouble walking past the crime scene.
“I think it’s time for us to take this day back, I think it’s time to take this holiday back, and to come together and find a new way to celebrate it,” Beasley told the Sun-Times. “It’s a difficult thing when something like this happens, you want to make sure that they don’t get the best of you, that evil does not win.”