Lake Forest plans Bears rally, win or lose

LAKE FOREST -- Regardless of how the Super Bowl plays out, city officials say the Chicago Bears will be welcomed back to their suburban home in style.

"We're planning a rally for them, win or lose," said Mayor Michael Rummel, who described the team as becoming "part of the community" since arriving in September 1979.

"They are very active in the community," Rummel said. "It's not like, 'Gee, they're just here, out in a corner somewhere.'

"Every day you can see them out walking around, and it's been that way since they moved here in 1979."

Rummel pointed out that many players and coaches live in Lake Forest, and one of head coach Lovie Smith's sons attends Lake Forest High School. He added that Smith recently manned a phone bank during a fund-raiser for the school.

The Bears first set up shop on the grounds of Lake Forest College in 1975, moving their training camp to Lake County after 31 seasons in Rensselaer, Ind. The original Halas Hall on Washington Road was named in honor of former team president George S. "Mugs" Halas Jr. following his death in December 1979.

The team moved to Conway Park northeast of the Tri-State Tollway and Route 60 in the spring of 1997, spending $21 million for a 100,000-square-foot headquarters -- named after team founder George S. "Papa Bear" Halas -- with 2½ practice fields surrounded by woods. The 37.5-acre parcel, about 20 of which were developed, was annexed to Lake Forest a few months after ground was broken in 1995.

In honor of the team's Super Bowl appearance, the city issued a proclamation designating Sunday as "Chicago Bears Day in Lake Forest."

"The esteemed and humble residents of Lake Forest, as longtime Chicago Bears fans, have long held the Bears as their 'hometown team,'" the proclamation states. "Lake Forest residents, young and old, will be rooting for the Bears in a 'Super Bowl Reshuffle' in 2007."