Illinois officially celebrates our bicentennial on December 3rd, but the birthday cake celebrations take place on August 26th in 7 Illinois cities including Rockford.
When I was in my young 20s, like most of my peers, I looked at New Year's Eve as the most important social night of the year. We always looked for the biggest, over-the-top parties we could find, because if you didn't have the best time of the entire year on New Year's Eve, your whole year was just ruined, right?
You may have heard that there was a wee bit of celebration going on in Chicago (and countless other Illinois cities and towns, including Rockford) Wednesday night. The Cubs had just won the World Series. Thousands and thousands of people hit the streets to rejoice in the victory, and the Chicago PD had their hands full.