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HomeEventsChicago - 2025 Grand Invitational

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Chicago - 2025 Grand Invitational

About this event


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2025 GI Logo - Final
 

Every so often a “gotta go” event comes along.  This is one of them.


Lake Michigan Region is excited to invite you to the 2025 Lambda Car Club Grand Invitational: 
RidwitPride!”.  Held June 25-29, 2025, across greater Chicago, “RidwitPride” promises to be something special.  For the first time ever, a Grand Invitational is happening in sync with one of America’s premier gay events: Chicago’s Pride Parade.


Join us at our host hotel in suburban Lombard, IL, for 
five days packed with fun activities celebrating fellowship, cars and 
Pride.  There’s a set of core events included with your registration fee, as well as a slew of extra-cost options that allow you to choose your own adventure.  The core events – bundled into the Nice Package (whoa!) – run from Thursday, June 26, through Saturday, June 28Package Enhancements (optional events) are sprinkled in from Wednesday through Sundayincluding a bus ride to Chicago’s Pride Parade, attended by over 1 million people!


As always, vehicles of all years, types
, stripes and styles are welcome.


There’s a lot to take in as you customize an itinerary that best reflects your interests and captures the essence of your 
Pride, so pour yourself a cuppa coffee, read through the following and register.  We can’t wait to host you in Chicago!

Below is information related to:

  • LODGING
  • SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • REGISTRATION & FEES

Tregister, login & click the 'Sign Me Up!' button near the bottom of this page.
(Smartphone users may find the 'Sign Me Up!' button at the bottom of their screen.)


 LODGING                                                                                                                                 

2025 GI Host Hotel

Our host hotel is the dog-friendly Westin Yorktown, located at 70 Yorktown Center, Lombard, IL.  It features all the expected amenities – including complimentary indoor parking, a fitness center and an indoor pool – and is part of a large shopping complex with many stores and restaurants a short walk away.  The hotel also is centrally located within Chicagoland and close to highways, should you choose to arrive early or extend your stay to see other Chicago-area attractions.  

 

Please book your room separately by May 25th, at the group rate of only $149 per night, through this link: Westin group rate for Lambda Car Club International (LCCI) 2025
The group rate is for rooms from Tuesday through Sunday with limited availability on Tuesday & Wednesday.  If unable to book all of your room nights online, you can book the nights that are still available at the group rate and then book any additional rooms separately using Westin Yorktown Reservations or by contacting the hotel directly at 630-719-8000.  Note the additional room rate may not be the same as our discounted group rate.

Car Parking – Free, secure (overnight security guard), indoor parking is available on three dedicated floors within the parking garage for all guests of the host hotel.


Trailer Parking – Free, outdoor, trailer parking is available on a limited basis. Please indicate if you need trailer parking when asked during registration.

 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS                                                                              

We’ve assembled a variety of exciting events with special appeal to automotive enthusiasts – as well as anyone interested in transportation, architecture, history or music. The Events-at-a-Glance chart below summarizes the entire schedule; click on any of the highlighted event names to jump directly to its detailed description.  Or scroll through the entire schedule of events further down to see everything that Ride with Pride has to offer!

 









Events-at-a-Glance

Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Optional Included Optional Included Optional Included Optional
Morning Free Time Free Time Ride to Wright
(9:00 - 3:00)
or
Ride to Riches
(8:00 - 4:00)
Free Time See Fabulous Rides
(8:00 - 12:00)
Show Pride in Your Ride
     (10:00 - 4:00)           
Membership Meeting
(1:00-2:00)
Ride to Pride
(9:00 - 3:00+)
Afternoon Ride the Rails (10:00 - 4:00) Cher the Ride
(1:00 - 3:00)
Evening Free Time Start the Ride (6:00 - 10:00) Ride the Waves
(5:00 - 11:00)
Rides of Our Lives
(6:00 - 11:00)
Free Time
Light Up Your Ride (9:00 - 11:00)


Free Time

Included

Optional






 THE NICE
 PACKAGE - Thursday - Saturday  ($399 before March 23 / $439 afterwards)         

2025 GI Start Your Ride X




Thursday6/26 Evening: Start the Ride!


It’s been a long day.  Probably hot, too.  
So it’s time to do what “the gays” do best.  Actually, what they do sec…er…third best: And that’s whoop it up.  Gather at the Welcome Party to quench, snack, talk, laugh, vamp and relax in the bosom of old friends.  Or maybe in the bosom of that new friend across the room.  ‘Cause chatting up mysterious strangers is what the gays do fourth best.

Included!

Back to Schedule














Thursday, 6/26 Night: Light Up Your Ride!



Hope you’re up for a visit to the Red Light District – because we can’t have a Grand Invitational without the famous Taillight Glow.  From the roof of the parking garage the lights of Chicago should be glistening in the distance, but you may just be preoccupied wondering why it is that everybody looks so much better bathed in red light on a hot summer night.

Included!

Back to Schedule
2025 GI Taillight Glow 2










2025 GI Cher the Ride




Friday6/27 Afternoon'CHER’ the Ride!


If there’s one thing Dark Lady’s shown over 60 years in showbiz, it’s that variety is the spice of life.  Inspired by her “try anything once” attitude, here’s an opportunity to check off new automotive experiences in cars of different marques, eras and styles.  Ever ridden in a two-seater?  A car older than you?  A true hardtop (after all, good ones can be hard to find!)?  If not, now’s your chance: club members and invited guests will provide rides in special cars around a course in the hotel’s parking lot, creating a shared…sorry…Cher'd experience to remember! 

Included!

Back to Schedule















Friday
, 6/27 EveningRide the Waves!

Spirit of Chicago
After so much time riding on wheels, it’s time to ride something else.  Travel by motorcoach to legendary Navy Pier to board the “Spirit of Chicago.”  It’ll be a night of 
dinin’ and dancin’ o’er the waves of Lake Michigan, cruising the length of – if we may be so bold – America’s most breathtaking skyline.

Included!

Back to Schedule
2025 GI Ride the Waves











2025 GI Car Show



Saturday, 6/28 All DayShow Pride in Your Ride!


You bought it, you brought it, now show that you’ve got it: Pride in Your Ride.  The Car Show starts now!  Provoke your fellow gays to seethe with white-hot envy at the quality of your car, accessorizing, staging and presentation – and at how you make it all look so damn easy.  Wash stations within the covered parking garage provide you what you need to detail your ride…and shoot for a coveted trophy.  (Lunch included)

Included!

Back to Schedule













Saturday, 6/28 Afternoon: 
LCCI Membership Meeting


The membership meeting will be held in 
the Magnolia Room at the Westin Hotel and hosted by the LCCI National Board President and other national Board members. This 1-hour meeting is your chance to hear about current and future news/plans for LCCI and ask questions.

Included!

Back to Schedule
2025 GI Member Meeting









2025 GI Cocktail Party
2025 GI Banquet

Saturday, 6/28 Evening: The Rides of Our Lives!


Park the cars and brace yourself for an evening of eating, entertainment, trophies and maybe even a catfight or two!  It promises to be a lotta fun! There’ll be tributes to the special rides of our lives that made us who we are today, along with an awards ceremony that you will not want to miss!


Included!

Back to Schedule










PACKAGE ENHANCEMENTS (OPTIONAL- Wednesday  ($36)                                                  
2025 GI Ride the Rails



Wednesday, 6/25 Mid-Morning/AfternoonRide the Rails!


Illinois Railway Museum
What’s long, hard and gleams in the sun?  Rails!  Caravan to the Illinois Railway Museum – the largest working railway museum in the U.S. – to see rails 
a’plenty and the machines that ride ‘em!  Machines like locomotives...and if you think a ’73 Imperial is big you’d better gird your loins. (Lunch included)
     
Cost $36

Back to Schedule







PACKAGE ENHANCEMENTS (OPTIONAL) - 
Thursday Choice 
 ($78)                                             

2025 GI Ride to Wright - Studio
2025 GI Ride to Wright - Temple


Thursday, 6/26 All-Day: Ride to Wright(Limited to 120 people)


Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio and Unity Temple

You can’t go wrong with Wright.  Caravan to Oak Park to tour famous edifices designed by America’s first starchitect, Frank Lloyd Wright – his Home and Studio, and Unity Temple – along with a guided walk among private homes also designed by the master.  And given Wright’s zesty private life filled with debt, infidelity and murder, there might be a pinch of gossip shared as well!  (Lunch included)

 

Cost: $78

Back to Schedule













PACKAGE ENHANCEMENTS (OPTIONAL) - Thursday Choice 2   ($62)                                     
2025 GI Ride to Riches - PWM
2025 GI Ride to Riches- Sanf


Thursday, 6/26 All-Day: Ridto Riches(Limited to 150 people)


Park Ward Motors and Sanfilippo Place de la Musique
F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote that the rich “are different from you and me”.  Let’s find out what he meant.  For starters, they demand exquisite materials and craftsmanship – so you’ll caravan to Park Ward Motors for a hands-on workshop to see how wood and leather found in the world’s most-prestigious cars are restored.  The rich also collect things, so you’ll further caravan to Sanfilippo, a mansion filled with an enormous collection of automatic musical instruments – including the world’s largest indoor organ, which goes up and down.  And up and down!  And up and…!  (Lunch included)

Cost $62

Back to Schedule











  PACKAGE ENHANCEMENTS (OPTIONAL) - Friday  ($45)                                                         





Friday, 6/27 Morning: 
See Fabulous Rides(Limited to 300 people)


Klairmont Kollections
Kar klusters don't get more eklektik than the 300+ kars that komprise the Klairmont Kollections, only recently opened to the publik.  A motorkoach will whisk you to this kompilation of award-winners, from mikrokars to Kadillacs, kustoms to klassiks, hyperkars to komponents.  (Lunch on your own).


Cost $45

Back to Schedule
2025 GI Klairmont










  PACKAGE ENHANCEMENTS (OPTIONAL) - Sunday   ($42)                                                       
2025 GI Pride Parade

Sunday, 6/29 Morning
/Afternoon
Ride to Pride!

Boystown/Northalsted

Wait…it’s already Sunday?  Sure is – and after the weekend you may be ready to burst.  But if you’re bursting with Pride, travel by motorcoach to join up to one million of your best friends at Chicago’s famous Gay Pride Parade.  We’ve got a reserved viewing area along the parade route.  It just doesn’t get more civilized than that, which shouldn’t be a surprise, since everyone knows that gays invented civilization. (Lunch included)

Cost $42

Back to Schedule




  PACKAGE ENHANCEMENTS (OPTIONAL) - Souvenir T-Shirt  ($24)                                          





Impress your friends!  Show your Pride!  Cherish memories!  Expand your wardrobe!  Pre-order your souvenir t-shirt(s) and pick them up when you arrive.

You will receive a white ringer t-shirt with the "Ride with Pride, Chicago 2025" event logo emblazoned in full color across the back and a smaller "Ride with Pride, Chicago 2025" over the left chest as shown here.

Select during registration and you will be asked for your shirt size(s) on the following page.

 Cost $24 each

  TRANSPORTATION - Planes, Trains or Automobiles!                                                        

2025 GI Map


LOCATION - Lombard, IL (Chicago) is centrally located from all coasts and is easily accessible by car or public transportation
(
airplane or train). 

PLANES – You can fly into either the O’Hare International Airport or Midway International Airport.  From there, you can take a suburban taxi. We recommend you prearrange a taxi from American Taxi at 1-630-305-0700.  American Taxi’s flat-rate from O’Hare is $43 and from Midway is $51.  

TRAINS – Take the BNSF Aurora train from Chicago's Union Train Station to the Downers Grove Station (50 minutes) or take the Union Pacific West Metra Train from Chicago's Ogilvie Transportation Center to the Lombard Station (40 minutes).  Contact the Westin at 630- 719-8000 for their complimentary shuttle to the hotel.
AUTOMOBILES - The Westin Yorktown Hotel is located near the intersection of Interstate 88 and Highland Ave. at 70 Yorktown Center, Lombard, IL  60148



 REGISTRATION & FEES                                                                                                         

EARLY Registration ends on Sunday, March 23rd (or when the registrations reach 350, whichever occurs first)

FINAL Registration ends on Sunday, May 25th.  (or when the registrations reach 350, whichever occurs first)

Just six easy steps to secure your spot:
 

#1   Login
#
  Ensure your Lambda Profile/Basic Member Information is current & correct as it will be used for all correspondence and name tags.
#3   Click
 on the 'Sign Me Up!' button near the bottom of this page
(Smartphone users may find the 'Sign Me Up!' button at the bottom of their screen.)

#4   Follow the prompts to select any optional activities and answer all the questions

#  Book your hotel room
#6   Prepare your car or plan your transportation


Date and Time

Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 11:00 AM until Sunday, June 29, 2025, 5:00 PM Central Time (US & Canada) (UTC-06:00)

Location

Westin Yorktown, Lombard, IL
70 Yorktown Center
Lombard, IL  60148
USA

Event Contact(s)

Rolland A Rahr
Registration Committee
269-357-9062 (c)


Tom Bierzychudek
Registration Committee
630-399-0502 (c)


Jim Legan
Treasurer (Refunds)
708-822-4768 (c)

Category

National Event

Registration Info

Registration is required
Payment In Full In Advance Only
Registration cancellations will be accepted until Sunday, May 25, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Cancellation Policy:
Cancellations:

Cancellations must be received in writing via email to Jim Legan at jtl4768@yahoo.com by the full cancellation date of April 20, 2025 in order to be eligible for a full refund.

Cancellations after April 20, 2025 will only be eligible for a 50% refund.

No cancellations will be allowed after May 25, 2025.

All refunds will be less a 3% credit card charge and
will be made in the form of a Bank check sent via U.S. Mail to your current home address on file in your LCCI profile.


Changes:

Any changes to your registration must be requested in writing via email to Rolland Rahr at imperial57@yahoo.com by May 25, 2025, at the latest. Refunds resulting from changes will be made in the form of a Bank check, less a 3% credit card fee, and will be sent via U.S. Mail to your current home address on file in your LCCI profile.


Hotel reservation cancellations/changes are separate. You must contact the hotel directly to make any changes or cancel your reservation (within the deadlines specified in the hotel reservation policies).
Activities/Items (Click the down-arrow to view details)
The Nice Package
Package Enhancement (Wednesday) - Ride the Rails!
Package Enhancement (Thursday) - Ride to Wright!...................Choice 1
Package Enhancement (Thursday) - Ride to Riches!...................Choice 2
Package Enhancement (Friday) - See Fabulous Rides!
Package Enhancement (Sunday) - Ride to Pride!
Package Enhancement - Souvenir T-Shirt - "Ride with Pride!, Chicago 2025"
Check if you plan to show a car(s)
Non-LCCI Member or Sister Car Club Member