Hundreds march in Highland Park on July 4th to heal, create a new tradition
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (CBS) – More than 2,200 people came together in Highland Park for a community walk to mark one year since the Fourth of July parade shooting that irrevocably changed thousands of lives.
The participants marched the same route as last year's parade, letting the community reclaim it, and move forward in a way that will give them a chance to experience the Fourth of July again in the future.
That march ended with a picnic in Sunset Woods Park. CBS 2's Tara Molina spent the holiday with the crowd and heard from city leaders who spoke about the importance of taking the community back and moving forward.
A community effort led to the march this Fourth of July with hundreds joining to create new traditions and celebrate together.
There was live music, burgers on the grill, and the sun shining on Sunset Woods Park.
"I think it shows the power of positive living and the power of positive thinking," said Dan Mendelson.
It's where Highland Park held its picnic this holiday.
"I came to pay my respect for the people of Highland Park," said Suzanne Bening.
Saul Deyja added, "Our community is healing. It's great to be out here."
Once again, they came together to move forward together as a community.
"We are here and life goes on and certainly it's positive that people can end that part of it and kind of bring everybody into a new, not beginning, but evolving from that into something positive," said Mark Walton.
This is perhaps a new tradition.
"Being here today means that we're alive," said Talia Raab. "We survived. Our community was not broken."
A community walk of hundreds ended at the park where the Fourth of July family fun kicked off, a celebration that's Highland Park strong.
"I think the t-shirt here says it all," said Gary Kash referring to his shirt. "We are together and this is a first step of many in healing."
There was also a concert and drone show planned for Tuesday night as the community continued to celebrate the holiday together.