2025 Grand Marshal Lupe Hernandez

The Momence Gladiolus Festival Association is proud to announce that Lupe Hernandez has been named the 2025 Grand Marshal; she will be honored in the 3 PM Grand Street Parade on Saturday, August 9th. Lupe recently retired after 15 years of being a Gladiolus Festival Board Member.

Her first memory of the festival is being excited about going to the carnival after the parade and dinner. Her dad would give her brothers and sisters some money and they could attend one night of the carnival.

She likes all the floats but the ones that stand out to her were a rocket float and the Titanic float. She misses seeing all the drum corps and the days when all floats could be covered in gladioluses.

With some influence from Michelle Simpson, Lupe decided to join the board because she wanted to be involved with helping bring the vision for the festival to life by planning, fundraising and setting up for events. While Lupe was on the board, she was the Volunteer Coordinator for all events including the Cash Bash, chaired the “We Honor Those Who Serve and Protect” breakfast, chaired the breakfast for those who shared an 80th birthday with the Glad Fest, shared her secret ingredient for Bloody Mary’s and worked that booth for us on Sunday afternoons. She also worked the tie-dye event, Flea Market check in, Cash Bash set up, sold a ton of split the pot tickets, Cash Bash tickets and 31 Day Raffle tickets. She would never hesitate to cover for someone who couldn’t work their shift or needed a break.

Lupe has three children and 14 grandchildren.

Lupe, thank you for your contributions to the Gladiolus Festival, we miss you and we hope you enjoy being in the spotlight!

2025 Gladiolus Festival Grand Marshals

 

KIDDIE PARADE

We are pleased to announce our Junior Grand Marshall for the 87th Annual Momence Gladiolus Festival Kid’s Parade is Ashay Dangerfield. Ashay is the daughter of Angie Love and Wayne Dangerfield and will be an 8th grader at Momence Junior High School. Ashay is the current IESA Class 2A 7th Grade Girls State Track and Field Champion in the 100-meter dash with a winning time of 12.99 seconds. She is also a silver medalist in the 200-meter dash and was a member of the 8th grade girls 4×200 relay team which received 7th place at the State Competition this year. Ashay has also been a member of the Momence Junior High Girl’s Basketball Team for the past 3 years. Ashay’s track coach Eric Carroll describes her as “…an awesome athlete who really put in the work!” When Ashay is not winning state championships she enjoys playing with her dog, making Tik-Tok videos, and riding her 4-wheeler. Her future aspirations include going to college to become a police officer, but in the more recent future her sights are set on winning the 100-meter dash as well as the 200-meter dash next track and field season as an 8th grader. We are proud to have Ashay represent the Momence Gladiolus Festival this year!