ALGONQUIN – When an RV with a sign on it that read "This is a sign. You should marry me," drove down Eastgate Drive during the Algonquin Founders' Days parade, Agnieszka Haligowska didn't read it.

The Crystal Lake resident was so excited to see her friends driving the vehicle that it wasn't until her boyfriend, Chris Fugiel, knelt down next to her that she realized she was being proposed to.

“I was jumping, literally jumping, and so excited to see them,” Haligowska said. “And [Fugiel] said, ‘Read the sign, read the sign!’ ”

The couple was watching the parade with friends and family, including their 6-month-old son, William Fugiel. Haligowska, 36, and Fugiel, 24, started dating in April 2015 before moving to their Crystal Lake home.

After the proposal, horns honked and the crowd cheered as the couple jumped into the RV to finish the parade. The outside of the vehicle was decorated with blue and white balloons, streamers and flowers, and inside were chocolates, champagne and roses.

Saturday's parade was part of the 56th annual Algonquin Founders' Days, which runs through Sunday.

Anita Fugiel, Chris Fugiel's mother, said coming to the parade is tradition for the Algonquin family. She said her son had been wracking his brains over how to ask Haligowska to marry him, and eventually thought of the idea to rent an RV from his workplace, Camping World in Wauconda.

“It was wonderful to be a part of it,” Anita Fugiel said. “He seemed really calm and sure of himself and excited to do it.”

Down the street, Cindy and Tim Hopp watched the parade with their family, and caught of glimpse of the proposal, too.

The husband and wife grew up in Algonquin, and have always come to the parade.

“I’m a teacher, so I see former students,” said Cindy Hopp, a second grade teacher a Mackeben Elementary School in Algonquin. “We get to see the neighbors and some people we don’t know.”

Around the corner on Algonquin Road, Algonquin residents Chris and Heather Maieritsch sat with their 3-year-old son, Nathan, who had a bag full of candy.

This was the first time they had come out to the parade.

“We’ve had a great time, and at least the weather held out,” Heather Maieritsch said.

The parade lasted for about an hour and a half, with temperatures in the 70s and cloudy skies – but no rain, which had been in the forecast.

Alan Kirk, Founders’ Days board president and parade chairman since 1998, said about 120 floats registered this year. His favorite part of the event is the children who participate.

“All of the kids have the opportunity to come out and dance and show off what they’ve learned,” Kirk said. “The cheerleaders, the gymnastics people, the wrestlers. To me, that’s really, I think, the No. 1 thing about the parade – it’s always been about the kids.”