The World Champion Chicago Cubs did, in fact, save their best for last. In a classic World Series Game 7, the Chicago Cubs outdueled the Cleveland Indians in extra innings to do something that hasn’t been done in 108 years. And the city’s “Lovable Winners” shared this championship with the city of Chicago in grand style.

           On Friday,November 4 an estimated 300 East Leyden students were “called out” of school, and most likely had the “Cubby blue flue,” choosing to attend the victory parade rather than a day of school. Those who did saw a historic crowd turn out for a precious moment in Chicago history. The Cubs parade brought out over an estimated 5 million people, which means more than double the city’s population.  

“Friday is expected to be the busiest day in Metra’s history” Metra CEO Don Orseno explained in a statement before Friday’s parade, and Orseno was right. Metra trains from the suburbs were delayed due to the enormous number of people going to the parade downtown.

Leyden senior Jacob Pazgan had that very same problem.,“It was fun, but there was a lot of delays, so it took a long time to get home.”

The parade started around 10 a.m at Wrigley Field on Sheffield and Addison.  As the buses drove off their routes, they traveled along Michigan Avenue, from Oak to Randolph. Moving to Columbus Drive, from Monroe Street to Balbo Drive. Finally, they made their stop at Lower Hutchinson Field. Crowds were lined up from the early morning, and they flooded the field to catch a glimpse of history.

Leyden’s varsity football captain Kevin Nevarez was there at the parade when the buses passed, and he said,”I enjoyed it a lot when I saw the buses drive by. I felt like I was watching history in progress.”

It was open and free to the public, but traffic occurred when fans had to pass through a security checkpoint before entering the rally. While police were not letting anyone through Monroe Street (due to the parade route), the most crowded areas were along Jackson Street. Senior George Habassem was at  the overcrowded Jackson Street. “I felt like I wasn’t even downtown, there were so  many people,” he said.”it was definitely a surreal moment.”

Chicago police were also on the clock with 12 hour shifts during the parade, as they rightfully needed to be due to the number of people gathered downtown. One fence was torn down as fans went through Columbus on Congress.

The Chicago River joined the fun with it being dyed blue.  According to….The event goes down in the records book as the seventh largest human gathering in history, the biggest in US history. With, “Go, Cubs, Go” being chanted wherever you went, the atmosphere in the city was ecstatic and filled with joy.

If you missed the parade last month, “there’s always next year.”