While hundreds of people are anticipated to show up at local Fourth of July parades set throughout Leelanau County this week, many longtime attendees are also ready to get out there to celebrate the festivities once again.
The Stan Brubaker Fourth of July parade is set to begin at noon Thursday, with parade floats, local groups, and vintage cars going from Glen Haven to Glen Arbor. Jim Dorsey will be honored as the parade’s grand marshal.
Leelanau County resident and frequent parade-goer Tom Van Pelt will be driving with the parade lineup again in his 1956 Oldsmobile Convertible known as the “Sleeping Bear Dunesmobile.” The vehicle’s rich history goes back decades. The Warnes Family of Glen Haven originally operated dune rides over the dunes of Sleeping Bear for 40 years beginning in 1934. They used different makes of cars to take visitors for rides over the dunes and along the shore. According to the National Park Service, the rides were discontinued in 1978 to halt environmental damage to the fragile dunes.
Van Pelt likes to share that piece of history with the public through his dunesmobile, whether it’s at local parades and events in Leelanau or Traverse City, but it’s especially meaningful to have it in the Glen Arbor parade.
“I’m kind of a history buff,” Van Pelt said. “It’s a fun car to drive and it’s kind of fun to show it off because it is such an important part of Leelanau County and Sleeping Bear Dunes. We enjoy being part of the community and helping them when we can.”
He previously had his wife, Deb, sitting in the passenger seat, with his grandchildren in the backseat throwing candy out to the crowd in Glen Arbor. After that parade wraps up, Van Pelt makes his way north to Leland to participate in the Leland parade at 3 p.m. He’ll be driving the Leland parade king and queen, Dan and Laurie Lisuk, in the dunesmobile this time around.
“The kids have fun — You really have to pay attention. You want to be waving and looking around, but you really have to concentrate with everything going on in the parade,” he said. “Take it slow and easy and enjoy it. If I get grandkids in the back throwing candy out, I tell them to make sure they get it all the way to the side of the road and throw it to the kids.”
Van Pelt first acquired the iconic vehicle over 50 years ago. Over the years, he and his father have driven it on and off at the Traverse City National Cherry Festival parade, Leelanau Fourth of July parades, and popular events like Northport Cars in the Park.
“There’s a lot of people that say ‘I can remember doing that (riding in the dunesmobile) as a kid’ or ‘I always wanted to do that, but never had the opportunity to do it,’” he said. “We enjoy it. It’s fun watching when you’re hauling somebody how much fun they’re having being involved in the parade.”
Longtime Leland resident Judy Egeler, 87, said she’s gone to the Leland Fourth of July parade for as long as she can remember, adding that it’s something she looks forward to attending every year. Living just a mile out of town, she likes to arrive an hour early to set up her lawn chairs with family and friends downtown along Main Street.
“We go down there early and visit with people because there’s always a lot of people you haven’t seen, so you kind of pass the time and it goes pretty quickly,” Egeler said. “Some of our family usually comes with me for it, and there’s other friends and family that know where we’ll sit, so they will come and join us. Many people choose the same spots every year so people know where to find each other and just begin gathering.”
In 1998, Judy and her late husband, Cliff, were honored as the Leland Fourth of July parade king and queen, a moment in time she’ll never forget. She remembers taking her kids when they were small to go watch the parade make its way through town as well, with her grandchildren following in the tradition and all coming up to watch it in their youth, too.
“The grandkids were sometimes in the parade, and my husband was very active in the fire department and usually drove one of the fire trucks. He’d take one or two of the kids in the truck with him,” she said. “I just think it’s fun and I love patriotism. I really feel that I’m very patriotic and I fly a flag and decorate the house, not necessarily for patriotic things, but for holidays and things like that.”
