As America's Thanksgiving
Parade embarks upon its
70th anniversary, 140
Distinguished Clowns are
preparing to Silly String
Detroit pink.

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JULIE YOLLES ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

DANIEL LIPPITT PHOTOGRAPHER

"The No. 1 reason I'm a clown is to sup-
port the parade. It's one of the ways that the
parade has been able to fund-raise money to
support its existence," says Borman, who
was the chairman of the Thanksgiving
Day Parade for five years in the mid-
'80s.
To be a member of the fun elite,
would-be jokesters must be nominated
by an existing and active Distinguished
Clown and donate $1,000 each year they
participate to the Distinguished Clown
Corps. Children and grandchildren of
Distinguished Clowns are invited to be
ore than 1,200 volunteers
Junior Jesters (ages 13 and up) or part
are working 'round the clock
of the Chilly Willy Fan Club (ages 12 and
to put on a blockbuster 70th
under) for a yearly $250 donation.
anniversary Thanksgiving
"My wife became a clown a
Parade.
year after I did, because I had so
"We don't get any sleep. Most
much fun," says Borman. "When
people are up all night. We're run-
you walk down the street and
ning on adrenalin," says Parade
Director Dennis Carnevale. "Usu-
see all those kids' faces -- there's
ally around 3 a.m., I start thinking
just nothing like it. You're see-
that there's no hope. I'll never
ing the whole mix of what the
make it. But when I drive the golf
city's about."
cart out at 6 a.m. and see all the
Borman and his wife, Mar-
lene, have reached the official
Gold Clown status, a title be-
Gary Wasserman, co-chair of the
"For the first five years, I had a
stowed to those with 10-plus
Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation
one-piece clown suit. Now that I'm
years of official Distinguished
and Hob Nobble Gobble, and Susie Gross,
a Silver Clown, I've graduated to a
director of special events, stand in front of
Clown Corps duty. Along with
the Hob Nobble Gobble balloon — one of
two-piece. Now I can go to the bath-
the designation comes a cus-
13 to be featured in the parade.
room," jokes Dubin, who marches
tom-made gold silk taffeta cos-
every year with clown-mate Alan
tume and matching hat. The
Harvith, his fellow ZBT fraternity buddy from Michi-
Bormans have matching his 'n' her suits.
About to hit his eight-year mark next week, gan State.
"I love doing what I'm doing," says Jimmie Thompson, Parade Company art
Fourth-year clown Melissa Orley Lax kibitzes with
Howard Dubin has two more years to go for the
director since 1988, who was named the '96 Michigan Artist of the Year by
the crowd along with Dubin's sister-in-law. Nanci Kan-
gold.
Artrain of Michigan. "After all, it's live theater."

aul Borman was the Class Clown of '84.
So were 17 other community leaders
— Esther Gordy Edwards, Glen Fortin-
berry, Sylvia Gershenson, Chuck Forbes
and Max Pincus, to name a few.
Front page news, Detroit Free Press,
Friday, Nov. 23, 1984.
At the Corps of it all were Tom Adams and Walter
McCarthy, two corporate guys who just wanted to clown
around at the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Twelve years after its formation, the Distinguished
Clown Corps will once again make the 2.2 mile trek
down Woodward in America's Thanksgiving Parade on
Thursday. This year, 140 Distinguished Clowns, armed
with 1,500 cans of Silly String, 500 pounds of candy and
300 pounds of multicolored confetti, will embark`upon
their mission: Make people happy.

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