(http://www.southtownstar.com/neighborhoodstar/evergreenpark/680784,120607toys4tots.article)
Grace Vancleave has one reaction to the thousands of motorcycles revving their engines in the brisk cold early Sunday morning.
"It was awesome," the 5-year-old from Chicago's Beverly community said.
Along with her 4-year-old brother Charlie and parents Kimberly and Ed Vancleave, the family had a front-row view of the 30th annual Chicagoland Toys for Tots Motorcycle Parade.
For Steve Gibbons, the last ride of the year was by far the most memorable.
Every year for the past 10 years, he's mounted his Harley, strapped on a toy to the back seat and rode in the parade.
On Sunday, Gibbons, of Chicago's Mount Greenwood community, joined about 3,000 riders traveling up Western Avenue for the 15-mile-plus ride from 83rd Street to Foster Avenue to mark the parade's 30th anniversary.
"Every kid deserves a toy" said rider Rick Oehme, also of Chicago's Mount Greenwood community.
As he readied his Harley with friend Reed Reilly, a Chicago firefighter, they made sure the toys they brought along - a motorized turbo rig and miniature motorcycles - were securely fastened.
"This is a tradition," said Andy Strzemp, who serves on the not-for-profit organization's board of directors. "We're all out here helping the kids. You have to have a big heart to do this."
No one needs to tell Mackenna Hill it's tradition. The 12-year-old from Michigan has gathered with his extended family to watch his parents, Jim and Bonnie Hill, ride in the parade every year he's been alive.
"It's pretty cool," he said with a smile.
The night before the parade, Mackenna's aunt and uncle Lucy Hill-Covay and Jim Covay throw a Toys for Tots party where every guest is required to bring a present.
"I've seen them ride when it was in the teens, when it was snowing," Hill-Covay said. "I'm so proud of them."
After years of riding in the parade - including one year when as many as 45,000 bikers turned out - friends Cal Cryderman and Steve Delaney opted to join the hundreds of volunteers who make the event possible. That didn't absolve them from donating a car carrier filled with toy cars and remote control truck though.
"It's for ages 2 and up," Cryderman, of Bridgeview, jokingly told Delaney, who lives in Worth. "So you can't play with it."
