I was attending a Christian retreat for teens this past weekend, so didn’t get a chance to snap photos of McHenry’s Fiesta Days Parade.

If you have photos of things political, please ship them off to me.

I’ve been told that the following officeholders/candidates were in the line-up. I assume that all or most of the McHenry City officials were in attendance, even though they were not mentioned by my source.

• Joe Walsh
• Jack Franks
• John Hammerand
• Sue Draffkorn
• John O’Neill

Pam Althoff and Sheriff Keith Nygren were listed, but my source didn’t spot them. (If you saw them or anyone else, please let me know and I’ll update this article.)

This parade was a bit disorganized on our end because Basia wasn’t there; she had a baby at 4:20 am. Justin Theodore “Teddy” O’Neill made his appearance weighing in at 8 lb 7oz and 20 1/4 inches.

We had 20 friends walking with us as we passed-out Tootsie Rolls and stickers. The reaction was great with many people coming up with unsolicited hugs, handshakes, and “fist bumps” congratulating us on Teddy’s birth.

The Announcer, Tim Stewart of the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce gave us the opportunity to announce Teddy’s birth over the microphone to cheers from the crowd!

Overall it was a great time seeing the fine folks of McHenry, what made it especially nice was the opportunity to go home and see the baby once it was all over.