Weekends during summer in Chicago offer a lot of opportunities to explore different subjects. The plethora of street fairs, neighborhood gatherings, and civic events usually result in some unusual combinations. Yesterday was just such a combination, as the title of this blog attests to.

The day started with an annual event at the Chicago Fire Academy, near Taylor St and Jefferson. The Academy stands roughly where the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 started. This is where Chicago trains its firefighters. The event is a gathering of the Illinois Fire Buffs, who are dedicated to the history of firefighting. They have a show of nearly all eras of fire engines, vintage to current, as well as a flea market where you can buy just about anything related to firefighting, including vintage equipment, books, etc. The event starts with a short parade of the fire engines. They had everything from a 1920s era Ahrens-Fox engine, to a REO engine and Federal Engine from the 1930s, on up to the current engines made by American LaFrance. The older ones are still operational and well preserved!

It was fun seeing these machines up close, and helped me appreciate even more the firefighter’s ability to do their job in an era where technology was nowhere near today’s level. Even so, you can’t help but admire the firefighters of every era, who go into places everyone else runs from. It takes a special person to do this.

Later in the afternoon, I went to Millennium Park, as this was the annual “Zombie March” took place. The march covers a route of 2.5 miles, starting at the Pritzker Pavilion, going up toward the Wrigley Building, back to the Daley Plaza, and finishing at Buckingham Fountain. I got there in time to see the participants getting into character, and prepping their zombie makeup. The work they did was very impressive! All in all, it was a fun day, and the great news is, summer is just starting!