Fourth of July parade floats are often one of the most exciting parts of attending any event. At parades in Leelanau County this year, while there are sure to be new floats and cars decorated creatively, people can expect many participants and their entries in the lineup to look familiar.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SBDNL), a returning participant in the Stan Brubaker Fourth of July Parade in Glen Arbor, brings out both an actual park themed float as well as their noticeable Bear Force One van, which is a mobile visitor center. The park neighbors the town, and being a participant in the parade is something SBDNL staff look forward to every year.
“No matter what age you are, parades are always fun to participate in. For us, I think this is an extra special one just because Glen Arbor is our closest gateway community that’s practically in the park. So it’s great to kind of start in the park and go down main street there,” said Emily Sunblade, Supervisory Interpretation Park Ranger. “We can’t send everybody because we need to make sure that we have people here to greet the visitors in the park. So it does kind of become a very coveted thing of who gets chosen to be walking in the parade.”
