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Sponsors, volunteers bring parade to life
The streets of downtown Northville
will be packed once again Wednesday
when the annual Fourth of July parade
comes to town.
This year, the theme of the event is a
Let Freedom Ring, according to Shari
Peters, president of the Northville
Community Foundation. The commu-
nity foundation organizes the parade
every year.
The parade will begin at 10 a.m.
along the newparade route, redirected
because of the downtown road con-
struction.
Pre-parade ceremonies will start
about 15 minutes earlier, with music
from the Michigan Philharmonic pro-
fessional musicians. With a tremen-
dous sound system, the music will be
heardblocks away, Peters added.
There will be a flyover by the
Michigan Air National Guard as well,
she said.
The foundation organizes the event,
but it couldn't happen without the
work of several volunteers, according
to Peters. The foundation organizes a
parade committee with volunteers tak-
ing over specific tasks, like the vintage
cars for the parade, the floats or bands.
“Each year the parade committee
does an excellent job of stretching
themselves to bring new entries to the
Northville parade,” Peters said.
Of course, sponsors play a major
role, too, she said. This year, for the
11th time, St. Mary Mercy Hospital is
sponsoring the parade. Other sponsors
includeMiejer, DTE andMonroe Bank
and Trust. “(They've) been extremely
generous tous,” Peters said.
There are plenty of unsung heroes
working behind the scenes, too. From
the volunteers that help keep things
moving on parade day to the police
officers and firefighters that make sure
everyone is safe.
And there probably wouldn't be a
parade if it weren't for the continual
help from Margaret Zayti and Mike
Carlo at Northville Downs. The parade
brings hundreds of entrants to the city,
after all, and they need some place to
set up before they take on their 2-mile
trek through the community. That
place has been Northville Downs,
which also allows parade-goers a place
to park.
“We couldn't do it if it weren't for
Northville Downs,” Peters said. “We
just couldn't do it.”
“It just seems to grow every year,”
said Peters. “It's really an All-
American, hometown event and peo-
ple really love it. It just gets better and
better.”