Information for parade entrants
Staging information will be mailed and emailed to parade participants
around June 25. If your group does not receive that information
by July 1, you may call the Jaycees before the Fourth at (630) 803-8727
or www.wheatonjaycees.org. All of the information in the emails and
letters is also available here.
Please review this information carefully and inform the members of your
group as well. This year's route is the traditional Main Street route.
The parade will step off at 10am. This means that parade entrants
will need to be in their places by 9AM. We kindly ask for patience
and cooperation from all entrants. Let’s work together to make this
event as fun and safe as possible. Thank you for participating, see
you on the Fourth!
See the Staging Map for more important information.
IMPORTANT!
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Groups should familiarize themselves with the groups before and after them
in the lineup to help parade officials step the groups off in order.
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Staging will take place on Main Street between Hawthorne and Geneva Road.
The Parade will step off at Hawthorne and Main at 10:00 am. Most access
to Main Street will be closed at 8:30 am. Between 8:30am and 9am, the only
entrance will be West Cole. Once Main Street is closed there will
be no exit access allowed. If you are a group that needs to drop off members
at your Staging location we ask that you do so before 9am. Hawthorne School
is a convenient drop-off location. We ask that all entries are in their
location before the roads are closed. Also, please do not drive out of
the staging area after 9:00am. There will be a lot of pedestrian traffic
and the roads will be closed off.
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Floats that have been instructed to stage on Main Street are asked to lineup
on the EAST side. This will keep the opposite lane open for Parade traffic.
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The Jaycee Parade Command Post will be located at Fifth Third Bank on Main
Street (see map). If you have questions on the morning of the event, please
locate a Parade Official at this location or circulating the Staging Area.
If you are a Paid Entertainment entry you can pick up your check at this
location.
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PLEASE PLAN FOR HOT WEATHER! The Fourth of July is always one of the hottest
days of the year. Please bring the necessary supplies to keep your group
comfortable. There are also no public restroom facilities in the area.
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Over 50% of the entries received this year asked to be placed at the front
of the Parade. While we consider all requests and attempt to accommodate
each group accordingly, we must also focus on organizing a well varied
and entertaining event. Therefore, Parade order and lineup is final.
Please DO NOT step-off from your Staging location until the groups
staged before you (listed on the reverse of this page) have moved.
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The Wheaton Jaycees Fourth of July Committee is an all volunteer group.
Please be courteous of all Jaycee Parade Officials and the Wheaton Police
that assist us.
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Above all else, HAVE FUN!!
Judging
Entry judging will be done in three locations this year, at the Jaycee Parade
Post, the post office, and at the Reviewing Stand on Front Street. It has been
suggested that we judge entries before the parade begins in the staging
area. This was done in 1998 and 1999, but was discontinued in 2000
because many groups were unprepared at the time the judges came around.
This "pre-judging" also gave us little opportunity to judge the musical
and cheerleading units.
The awards have been reorganized:
Winners will be announced to the public at the DuPage County Fairgrounds
at 8:30 PM on July 4th. We will be contacting the winners in the
afternoon, after the parade. If would like to provide us with an
alternate number where someone can be reached on the Fourth, please call
us at (630) 803-8727, or use the "Registration
corrections" form.
This page is maintained by: Jeff
Barcalow