WITH VIDEO: Huntington Woods residents celebrate Independence Day with parade

Jul 04, 2010

By: Oakland Press staff

By KAREN WORKMAN
Of The Oakland Press
Huntington Woods residents lined the streets of their neighborhoods for an excellent view of a longstanding community tradition — the annual Huntington Woods’ Independence Day Parade.
“The community involvement for the Fourth of July Parade is just par excellence,” said Sharon Charlip, a Huntington Woods resident.
The parade began at 10 a.m. on Sunday and traveled through neighborhood streets, ending at Scotia Park. An all-day festival, hot dog roast, and Fourth of July bake-off continued the festivities at the park, ending with a fireworks display.
“It’s a lovely community, everybody gets together, its wonderful,” said Irene Craig, a Warren resident whose daughters live in Huntington Woods.
The kids loved it too — especially the part where they got to collect candy thrown from those in the parade.
“She likes to catch the candy,” said 4-year-old Jack McManus of his friend, 3-year-old Leah Rizack.
Jack said he likes the candy as well and added: “I like the silly trucks too — trucks with flags, little Jeep trucks.”
The Rizack family had a front row view of the parade from their front lawn.
“It’s a nice little hometown parade that we enjoy a lot,” said Erika Rizack, Leah’s mother.
Matthew Catchik, 8, was catching candy and goodies for both himself and his brother, who is autistic.
“I like the floats and the cool cars,” Catchik said.
Huntington Woods resident Ronald Weiner came out to watch the parade on his 75th birthday.
“They do it every year; it’s great. They always celebrate my birthday,” joked Weiner. “We always love this parade.”
Sally Schulman-Gaft has been a Huntington Woods resident for 18 years and said the parade is great for its inclusiveness of all residents.
“If you want to be in it, you can be in it,” Schulman-Gaft said. “You know what they say, half the people are in it and half the people watch it.”

Contact staff writer Karen Workman at 248-745-4643 or karen@oakpress.com. You can also find her on Facebook and @KarenWorkman on Twitter.

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