On Saturday, Sept. 26, hundreds of residents lined Archer Road and 63rd Street as Argo Community High School’s homecoming parade traveled north from Ingredion in Bedford Park through Summit and ended at the school. Desplaines Valley News reported that the procession included 30 units, bringing school groups, first responders and neighborhood organizations onto the same route. Alumni also returned to Argo for homecoming weekend, joining the wider celebration around the school.
The morning’s locations, according to each source
The school and police records give different location details for the morning. Argo’s official alumni page listed a 9 a.m. parade meetup in front of school. A Summit Police traffic alert issued that morning says the parade starts at 9 a.m. coming from Bedford Park and describes road closures on 63rd Street and Archer Road. Desplaines Valley News traced the procession from Ingredion in Bedford Park north through Summit to Argo. The school page does not explain how its meetup point relates to the start described by police and the route in the report.
A lineup across the community
The units included area police and fire departments, Argo sports teams and clubs, the school’s marching band and orchestra, Heritage Middle School, Girl Scout Troop 56922, Summit Library, Bedford Park, Summit Park District and Argo Summit Lodge No. 1133. The names stretch beyond the high school: a middle school, a scouting troop, a library, park district representatives and a local lodge joined the school’s own groups. That mix put education, music, sports, public safety and community organizations in one procession.
For students, the marching band, orchestra, teams and clubs made school activities visible outside the building. For residents, the lineup included organizations from the towns along the route as well as Argo’s own groups. The newspaper described hundreds of people lining the streets, but did not give a separate count for the marchers or spectators. Its figure of 30 refers to parade units, not the total number of people who took part.
Talerico Bakery handed out donuts along the route, and parade participants tossed candy to children watching from the sidewalks, according to the report. The details sit alongside the larger lineup: a local business sharing food and participants acknowledging children gathered to watch. They give the route a neighborhood scale while the parade itself carried the school’s homecoming beyond campus.
A week with several ways to join in
The parade capped a week that included Spirit Week, Powder Puff football, Senior Sunrise, a pep rally, football and soccer games, and a homecoming dance. The activities covered different parts of student life, from school traditions and sports to music and the dance. The parade added another way for people outside the school to take part, as families, alumni and community members joined events or lined the streets.
Stacie Scheiner, in her first year as Activities Director, told Desplaines Valley News that the turnout made homecoming feel larger than a school-only event. “Families, alumni, and community members showed up to participate in and line the streets of the parade,” she said. Her account placed the students at the center of the week while recognizing the people who came out to support them.
Scheiner credited the Villages of Summit and Bedford Park, Talerico Bakery, Ingredion and the Institute for Food and Drug Safety with helping make the homecoming events possible. Those institutions and businesses helped support the week, while the parade offered a public moment when residents could see school groups and community partners together.
Alumni returned for homecoming
Superintendent Brandon Cotter also thanked the people and community partners who supported the weekend. He singled out alumni who came back to celebrate alongside current students. The report does not identify an alumni group among the parade units, so their return belongs to the broader homecoming story rather than the procession’s lineup.
That distinction leaves room for both parts of the weekend: a parade made up of school and community groups, and an alumni gathering that brought former students back to Argo. The procession connected Bedford Park, Summit and the school along 63rd Street. Around it, a week of activities gave students several ways to participate, while residents, businesses and local organizations helped make the celebration possible.
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