Glen Arbor's 4th Of July Parade Will Be Different This Year

Glen Arbor’s Fourth of July parade has been a fixture in the town for 60 years, and it’s continued to grow over the decades. This year, however, there’s a difference: The newly-named Stan Brubaker Celebrate America 4th of July Parade will be without its namesake for the first time ever.

It was back in 1963 that Stan Brubaker rounded up some kids and had them ride up and down the road in Glen Haven. It was no coincidence that some of those kids were his children. “I remember riding around the loop in Glen Haven,” says Kristi Jo Brubaker. “In those days Glen Haven had homes, and they all had kids.

“It’s evolved into this huge thing.”

That it has. The parade grew organically, adding firetrucks by 1968 and other floats, and expanding the route into the Homestead resort, before settling on a route that ends the far side of Glen Arbor. Hundreds now line the streets in town, perhaps as many as 1,000 people, according to Glen Arbor Township Supervisor Tom Laureto.

Each year Stan was there in Glen Haven, getting the entries lined up while cruising around on his yellow moped. “It was always Stan’s parade,” says Laureto. How does he know? “My wife was one of the original (participants).”

Stan would likely disagree with the statement that it was his parade, as he was adamant that he wasn’t the boss. Indeed, no one had any title – Stan was just the guy who lined up the entries in Glen Haven.

If he wasn’t the boss, he was the driving force. That continues today: Before he passed away in March at 95, Stan made sure the parade would continue. “I was asked by Stan, ‘Will you be in charge of the parade?’” says John DePuy. DePuy agreed, and now he’ll be in charge of the lineup in Glen Haven. And yes, he’ll be wrangling the cars, trucks and floats from aboard the yellow moped.

Well-known for his love of country, Brubaker started the tradition as an homage to America. “He was very patriotic,” says DePuy. He enlisted in the army and was deployed to Germany when all the post war infrastructure was being rebuilt, and believed people should pay tribute to all those who have defended liberty throughout the country’s history. Keeping the family connection, this year, Stan’s son Rodney will serve as the grand marshal.

The parade is famous for being an “anything goes” parade, meaning anyone can enter it, with a vehicle, float, biking or walking. No registration is required.

While anything goes in terms of the parade entries, that’s not the case for their behavior. In the wake of several complaints from the crowd, this year organizers have banned the use of water guns. In addition, the volunteers who use large brooms to sweep candy tossed by the paraders to the crowd will be even more diligent.

DePuy says they always want the crowd to have fun, and the last thing they want is to have someone get hurt. “There were a lot of complaints last year about waterguns, supersoakers, water balloons. The last couple years it’s gotten worse.

“It’s just being responsible. Parents called me last year about how dangerous it is, and (about) getting wet. We put an ad in the paper about refraining from water (guns).”

This year the parade route through town is bounded by cones and yellow caution tape to discourage anyone from running out into the street. Laureto serves as a member of the broom crew, pushing the candy toward the curbs and the kids. “There are 15-20 of us,” he says.

This will be the 60th year for the parade. Make that 61 if you include 2020: In the midst of the pandemic, it saw an abbreviated version: Stan rode through town on a firetruck, the lone “entry” that year.

DePuy begins coordinating the assembly of vehicles in Glen Haven beginning at 10:30am. Asked how many entries are in the parade, he give a general guesstimate. Given the fact he’s sequestered in Glen Haven, he doesn’t even see the whole parade himself. “Probably 50-100 entries. It varies every year. The walkers, bikes, kazoo band all start at the Christian Science church.”

The parade leaves Glen Haven promptly at noon.

While the parade is the culmination of activities in the immediate area, things actually start on Sunday, July 2, with the Glen Lake Firefighters Annual Pancake Breakfast. That starts Sunday morning at 8am and runs until noon at the Township Hall. All proceeds help fund the GLFD Fire & Rescue Association.

On Monday, Glen Arbor Township Park hosts the Northwestern Michigan College Concert Band under the direction of Pat Brumbaugh. The concert in the park begins at 7pm.
Prior to the parade, at 10am the annual Glen Lake Woman’s Club Flag Raising Ceremony takes place at Old Settlers Picnic Grounds on Glen Lake.