By Jason Hanna and David Williams, CNN
This is to be the parade that will “stand the test of time,” as Chicago’s mayor put it.
Chicago is celebrating the Chicago Cubs’ first World Series win in 108 years Friday, and fans are more than ready to go — some taking to the streets hours before the sun rose, hoping to see their team along the route or cheer at a downtown rally.
The Cubs were supposed to leave Wrigley Field in a motorcade at 10 a.m. CT, but the official downtown parade won’t happen until about an hour later. Then, a rally is scheduled to take place at Grant Park.
School? Work? Not for thousands of people, packing the city roadways.
Jeff Brenneman, a 34-year-old lifetime Cubs fan, awoke at 4:30 a.m. at his Northside home to get downtown two hours later, and Congress Parkway already was swarmed.
“I think my boss would have been shocked if I hadn’t asked for time off,” Brenneman said.
“People started gathering shortly after midnight is what I’m told,” he added.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the city would throw a celebration “worthy of the history the team made” earlier this week in Cleveland, where the Cubs beat the Indians 8-7 in 10 innings of the World Series’ deciding game.
“2016 is the year for the Cubs and the generations of fans who have been waiting to fly the World Series W,” Emanuel said. “Go Cubs go!”
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