To Life!

ON THE COVER

Love A Parade! from page 37

then enlisted Jimmy, his friend since Little
League play. Jeff also brought his daughter
Jodi on board.
"My dad asked my sisters and me if we
wanted to come and work assembly with
him for the parade," Jodi remembered. "We
all said that we wanted to, but I was the
only one who ended up waking up at 4:30
a.m.'
Jason later included Bubba, a pal from
days at West Hills Middle School in West
Bloomfield. Jeff and Bubba already had
been friends for nearly 20 years, and Jeff
knew Jason through Bubba.
Eventually, Jason became the guy who
oversees the work of the team, which also
includes four or five other volunteers who
• vary from year to year.
They spend the bulk of their time in
pre-parade space. "The seven blocks prior
to where the parade actually starts is
assembly area," Jason said: "That's where
all the [75] units are lined up. There are
thousands of people all over the place
but it's very organized. It's all figured out
ahead of time and every unit is given a
number.
"Wednesday is called roll out day,' he
said. That's when he and Bubba start their
work. "After the floats are pulled out of
their home in the Parade Company, we
guide the police officers and float drivers
to place the floats in the order they will be
for the parade Bubba said. '
On Thursday, the other parade units
— like musical groups, clowns, horses,
specialty acts and celebrities — line up on

38

November 23 • 2006

nearby side streets. Then the team funnels
them into a single line into the right order.
"Our main responsibility is to help
direct traffic between the balloons, floats
and the marching bands:' Jimmy said. "But
before that, we drive a cart up and down
Woodward Avenue passing out [donated]
candy and donuts to the parade watchers."
And they are there early to watch the
set-up and line the streets. Chuck Gaidica,
WDIV Local 4 News director of meteorol-
ogy, also does his TV broadcast of the
parade from there.

Why Do It?
Through the years, the group has learned
much about what goes on to create the
parade, which is celebrating its 80th anni-
versary this year.
"There are thousands of volunteers —
some who have been doing this for 20 or
30 years — who assemble the floats, make
the costumes and do all the preparations
to get everything ready for a three-hour
stroll down Woodward Avenue Bubba
said. "It's an amazing yearlong process that
starts again as soon as the parade is over.
Everybody plays an important role, and
without everybody, there is no parade,"
Added Jason, "We're not actually the
decision makers, but we take- all this pretty
seriously. If something breaks — which
rarely happens — we ask somebody to fix
it or we are asked to change the order.
And part of the parade experience
is just being there together as friends.
"Everybody's got their own thing: Tuesday

'