July 17, 2002
Cherry Festival parade goers have best seats in the house
Downtown residents take parade watching to great heights; throw front yard parties
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Parade watching 101: the art and science of the best seats in the house.
As the week of parades winds down - with its trio of Heritage, Children's and Cherry Royale - some parade goers have the inside scoop on the best place to watch.
Of course, downtown apartment dwellers have a hands-down advantage: just peer out a window from the comfort of their own home. Others watchers go to great heights, scaling buildings or scaffolding to get their bird's eye view. Seventh and Union featured a devoted crowd of Cherry Royale Parade watchers who cavorted and cheered eight feet off the ground, waving cards ranking passing floats.
Tradition rules for some, with a favored ground-based spot calling some watchers back year after year. Lawn chairs or blankets mark out the prized turf.
The Fisher family has attended a Cherry Royale Parade party at Nancy Brown's house on Union Street for the past 10 years. With two young daughters who love the parade, Robin Fisher said she makes the most of small trees in Brown's front yard.
"We go to that party every year and we try to find shade," she said.
Members of the Eyman-Peterson family have made the Cherry Royale Parade an excuse for a family reunion for the past 22 years. Staking out a claim on the east side of the intersection of Union and Eighth streets, family members gather early to set up awnings, food tables and grills. In their comfortably shaded lawn chairs, family members and friends downed fajitas and cold drinks while cheering on the passing spectacle.
"This is the closest thing we have to a family reunion and after the parade we all go to Sunset Park," said Amy Peterson of Elk Rapids, owner of the Riverview Café and Deli in Elk Rapids and caterer of the event. "We get here early and stake this place out."
Peterson said they often make T-shirts for attendees and signs to promote group participation.
"The family across the street has been coming there for almost as long as we have," she added.
The wildly enthusiastic Klepper's Klappers can be found at the end of the Cherry Royale Parade route. Living just south of 11th street on Union, Cindy Klepper said she and her husband began their cheering section for marching bands 24 years ago.
Klepper's Klappers has since grown to a party drawing between 50 and 100 attendees. With tents providing shade and up to 75 hot dogs grilling, the party also includes signs and banners encouraging the bands plus a frequent chorus of hand-made wooden clappers to spur them on.
"By the end of the parade route, the bands were tired and needed encouragement," she said. "Now every band plays in front of the house."
Cindy Klepper sees the enthusiasm and loyalty of parade watchers as the embodiment of small-town life, something she cherishes.
"I'm from out east and we didn't do anything like this," Klepper said. "It is wonderful, this is what community is all about."
"The neighbors across the street said we are their entertainment," she noted.
The Klepper's next door neighbors have been inspired to throw a lawn party of their own for the past four years. Inviting friends near and far, Tom and Betsy Hardy host a dinner Friday night to get everyone into the festive spirit. During the Cherry Royale Parade, the assembled continue the feasting on parade dogs (recipe courtesy of Cindy Klepper) while enjoying the shows on the street and in the neighborhood.
This year, the Hardys instituted the Hardy Horse Hockey Society, where participants paid a dollar to draw a chalk outline of their body on Union Street in front of the house. Each participant labeled their outline and then cheered passing horses to make a deposit on 'their' drawing.
"These are the best two days of the year," said Tom Hardy, a Traverse City native. "Growing up, I really wanted to be on the parade route and living here is just great."
Hardy said that parade day has given a new meaning to the adage Keep up with the Jones': "We're trying to keep up with the Kleppers."