Readers turn to the Enterprise each 4th of July to see how peninsula people will celebrate the holiday.

So as your source of information about the times and dates of Independence Day parades, we sought out two long-time spectators and oft-time parade entries for the inside line on the best vantage points for parade viewing and what to watch for.

Children and their parents are known to participate in the Leland
and Glen Arbor parades on their bicycles.

The Glen Arbor 4th of July parade begin in 1963 with the children of Stan Brubaker of Glen Haven.

“It began with my kids riding their tricycles from the Coast Guard Station to Glen Haven,” said Brubaker. “The late Marion Warnes, who used to live above the store (in Glen Haven) used to say she was our first spectator.”

Known as a parade in which almost anything goes, the Glen Arbor annual celebration is full of family fun with decorated cars, trucks and other things with wheels.

Traditionally, Brubaker was given the title of “parade official.” he lined entries up at the Glen Haven starting point. He’s now turned over much of the organization to Todd Stachnik of Maple City.

But you can still see the 80-year-old Brubaker watching over the parade route on his yellow moped.

“I ride along with everyone, encouraging them to keep up with the others,” Brubaker said.

Antique vehicles are always the first in line — for good reason.

“I usually get a car with a siren … the police in the front and then the old cars and trucks,” he explained. “We can’t have them standing still (behind another entry) because the only way to keep their motors cool is to keeping them moving. They can’t be sitting idle, because they’ll overheat.”

An inexperienced parade-goer in Glen Arbor may assume that checking out the parade early on, before it reaches the commercial district, is advantageous. Yes, the site offers ample parking, and an easy exit via Stocking Drive. But that would be a mistake, according to Brubaker.

“A lot of the walking units join in at the Christian Science church,” he said.

“If you watch before there, you’re going to miss out on the kazoo band and any of the large animal entries.”

Job security for dentists is assured based on the number of children who line the parade route, grocery bags in hand, awaiting candy tossed out by parade subjects.

“We discourage people from throwing items at those in the parade. We’d rather have it the other way around,” Brubaker said.

Farther north and equally entertaining is the Leland Fourth of July parade, which has been a focal point for generations of families — residents and visitors alike.

Eloise (Telgard) Fahs of East Leland has fond memories of watching the parade, the route of which traveled past her parents’ business, The Bluebird Restaurant.

“It’s gotten bigger and better each year with a lot of diversity among entries,” said Fahs, whose children, Tim from Minneapolis and Karen from Milwaukee, will be in town to celebrate the holiday. “It’s too bad they don’t have more…community bands participate. That’s my favorite part.”

She continues to stake out her viewing spot, in front of her mother’s home on Main Street, along with a family which traditionally stays there and plans their family vacation around the July 4th holiday.

“We’ll be in the shade of those old, old maples,” Fahs said.

Some of her favorite memories center on entertaining done by her mother on parade day long into her old age.

“Even when she was too old to pull it off herself, she’d direct. ‘Have you got the ice? … ‘Do you have that’,” Fahs recalled.

The former owner of the Cheese Shanty in Leland was once asked to serve as parade royalty, but declined. However, she was entered in the parade once.

“I rode in a 1929 Model A that my husband had restored to show condition,” Fahs said. “We had a 100-pound round of cheese in the back.”

The parade concludes at the Village Green on the north end of the unincorporated village where prizes are awarded in nine categories: most unique; most humorous; best business entry; best antique automobile entry; best musical group; best costume (child); best costume (adult); best theme entry and best in parade. The theme of the 3 p.m. parade is “Let Freedom Ring.”

At stake: “bragging rights” for the upcoming year.