Participants needed for Madison Heights Memorial Day Parade

MADISON HEIGHTS — Organizing a parade is no small feat. Months of planning go into the Memorial Day Parade in Madison Heights and this year is no different, with efforts already underway to ensure its success later this spring.

Andy McGillivray, with the Parade Committee, said the parade is set for May 25, the Saturday before Memorial Day. It will follow the same route that made its debut last year, starting near Wilkinson Middle School and proceeding north on John R Road to 11 Mile Road, where it will turn east and continue to Madison High School, concluding with a memorial service on the football field.

This year’s parade will also be the second one held since the pandemic put the cherished tradition on hold for several years. During the worst of COVID, there were only limited drive-through memorial service events at City Hall.    

“Last year went so well that we’re going to run that route again this year,” McGillivray said. “There will be a few minor changes, but not much that people will notice. We will probably stage at a different location that we will disclose at a later date. We’re still working on the logistics.”

He said the new route showed a lot of promise.

“The big thing I saw last year was that people were able to spread out along the entire route. The old route that ended at City Hall had many spots that were hard for people to reach, so you would go two or three blocks with no one sitting there. But with this new route, everyone is spread out evenly with no gaping holes,” he said. “It was phenomenal, especially considering it was a last-minute addition where I was like, ‘I guess we can use this,’ but everyone we spoke to said they were so happy with it ending at the high school and using the football stadium.”

He anticipates that more businesses will open their doors during the parade, and that there will be even more spectators since there will now be more awareness of the route.

That being said, lining up participants is still a challenge. In particular, McGillivray wants to find military veterans to walk or drive in the parade. He said there is a lot of competition from similar events in neighboring communities. Even though the Madison Heights parade is earlier, many veteran groups are older in age, and find it difficult to participate in multiple events.

The Parade Committee is also interested in marching bands, scout groups, community clubs and local businesses, and would especially appreciate any costumed mascots, cosplayers or performers such as clowns who would be willing to lend their time and talent at no cost.

“We are looking for pretty much any group that isn’t political or controversial,” McGillivray said. “I don’t want to have protests at the parade, and I don’t want political candidates running for office, because that’s not what the parade is about. The parade is about honoring veterans and those who died serving our country. We want to build the parade — that is a goal we’ve had since we switched from Monday back to Saturday. We lost some people and we gained some people, but it’s been a challenge to build it back up. And then we all took a break for COVID, and we were smaller last year. So we’re looking for anything interesting, and then we can talk and see whether it’s the right fit.”

Those interested in participating can apply online at madisonheightsparade.org, or by emailing mhparade@gmail.com. Those who want to help along the route can also apply at the same email.

The parade is privately funded, so the committee can always use more donations. Those can be made by sending checks to Madison Heights City Hall, 300 W. 13 Mile Road, written to the attention of the Parade Committee.

“On Parade Day, the more people I got, the easier it makes it for everyone,” McGillivray said. “I’m extremely lucky that I have a very dedicated core group of people, but we can always use more. And this year might be extra challenging in that it’s a presidential election, so there may be people who want to campaign for this or that, but we can’t allow it. Again, we have a longstanding policy that we keep politics out of it. We don’t allow candidates in this parade — only office holders.

“We don’t want people out there selling stuff, either,” he added. “This is supposed to be a completely free event, not one where vendors are walking the route selling 4-foot-long balloons or pinwheels or whatever. We don’t want you to spend a dime to have a good time.”

McGillivray said he is motivated by providing families something to do together at no cost — something that his father, the late Oakland County Commissioner Gary McGillivray, also believed.

“My dad instilled parks and recreation in me. That was his big thing,” McGillivray said. “And I say we need more recreational activities that are low cost or no cost for local families. Our city has lost a lot in the past 25 years. We used to do multiple festivals in the park, and we’ve been bringing them back with Trail Tunes and Juneteenth, but we need even more. This parade is something that I don’t want us to lose, because we may not get it back.”

Sean Fleming, a member of the Madison Heights City Council, is a veteran who served with the Signal Corps in the U.S. Army during Operation Joint Endeavor in Bosnia and Croatia. He also currently serves as the senior vice commander for VFW Post 1407, which has members in both Madison Heights and Ferndale.

“This parade is the only one we have in Madison Heights. It shows our respect for those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” he said. “We’ve lost contact with many organizations — some have gone defunct, and others we haven’t managed to reconnect with yet. So we’re rebuilding our contacts and looking for new people who would like to participate in the parade in honor of our fallen comrades. It’s a big tradition, and I want to make sure it returns to the city of Madison Heights.”