4th On 53rd Parade Celebrates 25 Years In The Neighborhood

HYDE PARK — Alice Cox enjoys seeing her neighbors march in the 4th On 53rd Parade.

The 9-year-old girl stood with her mother, Suzanne Cox, watching the dancers and marching bands move down 53rd Street Monday morning, marking the parade’s 25th year in the neighborhood.

“I like looking at all the people,” Cox said.

This year’s parade began at 11 a.m. in the Hyde Park Bank building parking lot at 54th Street and Old Lake Park Avenue. That’s where neighborhood kids decorated their bikes before the parade.

A procession of dancers, marching bands and neighborhood groups winded down 54th Street to Lake Park Avenue and down to 55th Street.

The parade is an event neighborhood folks look forward to every year.

“It’s such a neighborhood thing,” said Timika Hoffman-Zoller, standing on the sidewalk waving an American flag.

The parade then rolled from Hyde Park Boulevard to 53rd Street, where it headed west to Nichols Park for post-parade fun.

“It’s just so authentic,” said 58-year-old Phil Reynolds, who came to the parade with his dog, Thelma.

“I used to live in that building and watch out the window,” said Lorna Boston, pointing west down 53rd Street at a high-rise residential building. “You can’t resist it.”

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