Big Halloween event set for October 26
By Tim Hadac
SWCP Managing Editor
An Olympic champion will serve as grand marshal of the Midway Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Pumpkin Jamboree Parade.
Garfield Ridge resident Kennedy Blades, 21, an internationally acclaimed wrestler who earned a silver medal at this year’s Olympic Games in Paris, will be front and center at the parade, set for Saturday, Oct. 26.
“We're thrilled to honor Kennedy Blades as this year's grand marshal for our annual Halloween parade,” said Midway Chamber of Commerce President Mary Ellen Brown. “Celebrating a local resident who has achieved such an incredible accomplishment on the world stage is truly special. Our previous grand marshals have all been individuals we can look up to—those who have achieved great things and are cherished members of our community. Kennedy fits that mold perfectly.”
The event is set to step off at 10 a.m. from Archer and Nordica and head east, disbanding at Kennedy High School.
“We’re super excited about this, especially because the parade is right here in our own neighborhood,” Kennedy Blades’ mother, Chicago Police Sgt. Cindy Ramos, told the Southwest Chicago Post this week. “We love Garfield Ridge. This is a nice neighborhood, a good place for families and children.”
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| Kennedy Blades and her mom, Cindy. |
Kennedy lived in the Gage Park neighborhood until about age 7, when the family moved to suburban Broadview. They have been in Garfield Ridge about three years. Kennedy’s father is an officer with the Illinois Department of Corrections.
From about age 4, she was around those who trained and competed in martial arts—later getting into wrestling, so much so that she attended an elite high school in Pennsylvania, the first in the nation with a girls’ wrestling program. She and her younger (by 10 months) sister, Korina, wrestled with programs in the western suburbs, as well as in Arizona. Kennedy has wrestled in countries around the world, including in Europe, Asia and Africa.
She is now enrolled at the University of Iowa, where she is expected to compete on the mats for the Hawkeyes.
Among her goals are to compete in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
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| Kennedy in Paris |
“I’m super-honored to represent the U.S. in any way I can,” Kennedy told an interviewer in Paris last month. Deep in her Christian faith, she also credits her “relationship with Jesus” for giving her strength to persevere and succeed in her sport and in life, she added.
“Kennedy has already accomplished so much more than I could have imagined,” Cindy Ramos told the Southwest Chicago Post. “As young as she is, she can serve as a role model for young girls—as well as boys—to chase their dreams.”
Hundreds and perhaps thousands of those young girls and boys are expected to line the curbs of the parade route—most in Halloween costumes, scampering to scoop up candy tossed their way from floats and other parade units.
Details about the parade will be reported in the weeks ahead at swchicagopost.com.
The parade typically features floats and marching units representing local businesses, schools, Scout troops, churches, youth athletic organizations, veterans’ posts, elected officials and others.
Organizations interested in participating in the parade should visit midwaychamber.org for details.
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