State Sen. Miguel del Valle was only 14, but he still remembers how it felt to

watch the Puerto Rican Day Parade for the first time.

     "I remember I felt so proud," said del Valle, a Chicago Democrat. "I came from Puerto Rico to live in Chicago at the age of 4, and even though we had been back and forth many times...it wasn't until that parade, the grand splendor of it, that I felt so proud of my heritage."

     Del Valle was expected to be grand marshal of Saturday's parade. The two-hour, 125-unit event was to begin at noon on Dearborn and proceed south from Wacker to Van Buren.

     A small walk perhaps, but a big deal to the nearly 130,000 Puerto Ricans in the Chicago area. This is the culmination of a week of festivities in Humboldt Park celebrating Puerto Rican culture, music, food and people. After the parade, the party was to reopen at 2 p.m. Saturday and runs 10 p.m. Sunday.

     In addition to food, rides and music, people deck out cars, homes and even themselves in the red, white and blue of the Puerto Rican flag - wearing stripes and the single star on shirts, hats, bracelets and belts.

     "When I drove in here, I felt like I was driving into San Juan," said Jade Esteban Estrada, a Latino pop singer who on Friday sang "Reggae Twist," which is a hit in Puerto Rico. "You just feel like you are in another country here. And you feel the pride."

     "It's really a celebration of 364 days of work," said U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) "You celebrate your triumphs and the goals that you have met and you set your goals for the new year."

     But this also is a big political event for those who are marching - Mayor Daley and Gov. Edgar are regulars - and those who planned it. In fact, the Puerto Rican Parade Committee is legendary for proving the festival is political.

     Ask anyone. Most roll their eyes and refuse to say a word. Others quietly tell you of heated arguments, egos and the elections - the incredible elections. But few will say anything on the record.

     "Is the Puerto Rican Parade committee political?" Gutierrez asked. "Supposedly, they are not political. But how can you not be political and be Puerto Rican? Politics is the national sport.

     The president of the event is elected for a two-year term every other September. Several thousand people from all over the area come to the Humboldt Park field house to vote.

     Each president chooses a committee of 20 people, and this year as Ruben Rosada finishes his term, already four or five candidates have declared.

     "You have to understand that the committee is unique in many respects and unlike other organizations," del Valle said, "it actually places people who wish to be the leader through a voting process and allows anyone who is Puerto Rican to vote...the process has interested people in the electoral process. It also produces a great festival and a lot of pride."