Santa Claus — the star of the Grosse Pointe Santa Claus Parade — has traveled the parade route in different vehicles and floats over the years; this photo — from circa 2007 — shows him aboard his former float.
The Grosse Pointe North High School Marching Band makes its way down Kercheval Avenue in The Village in the 2012 parade.
File photo by Roy Feldman
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GROSSE POINTE FARMS/CITY — The Grosse Pointe Santa Claus Parade is marking a major milestone this year as it turns 50.
“This year’s parade will feature an expanded lineup of floats, school bands, and community groups,” Grosse Pointe Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jenny Boettcher said in an email interview. “Highlights of this year’s parade will feature spectacular floats provided by the Detroit Parade Company, dazzling largerthanlife inflatables, and the imaginative creativity showcased by many marching groups. Adding to the festivities, Grosse Pointe Theatre will deliver a special performance that promises to delight the crowd.”
The parade will start at 10 a.m. Nov. 28 at Lewiston Road and Kercheval Avenue in Grosse Pointe Farms, making its way a little over a mile to Kercheval and Cadieux Road in Grosse Pointe City. It takes place, as is traditionally the case, the day after Thanksgiving.
High school marching bands participating this year include Grosse Pointe South, Grosse Pointe North, Harper Woods, Detroit School of Arts and Chandler Park. Boettcher said the parade usually attracts about 10,000 spectators along its route.
The parade was launched in 1975 by Beverly Leinweber, who was then marketing director for the Village Association and later became its executive director. Leinweber died in 2023 at the age of 89.
Terri Berschback, of Grosse Pointe Park, who served as the parade director from roughly 2002 to 2012, said Leinweber “was dynamite.” Although Berschback said she wasn’t involved in the parade at the beginning, she recalled the early years, when volunteers and participants were building floats out of abandoned items at Grosse Pointe Moving and Storage in Detroit.
“They were making their own floats,” Berschback said. “It was a whole homespun kind of deal.”
Berschback laughingly admitted she has not so fond memories of her first parade as director.
“The first one I did was the worst one,” she said. “It poured buckets. … It was raining so hard the ink was running down the pages (of the schedule).”
The Grosse Pointe parade has borrowed floats from The Parade Company over the years, but one year, Berschback said, The Parade Company forgot to send them. That year, she said, former WDIV-TV anchor Devin Scillian and his family were supposed to ride aboard the Mother Goose float; in its absence, Berschback said the Scillians rode on an antique fire truck owned by the husband of Ellen Durand, owner of El’s Boutique in The Village.
Thomas Kressbach, of Grosse Pointe City, served as city manager from 1966 until his retirement in 2001, so he was there when the parade started. He said parade setup used to take place on Maumee Avenue/Grosse Pointe Boulevard, near Grosse Pointe South High School, because the parade used to start at Fisher Road. Now, the route takes it through the Hill business district in Grosse Pointe Farms as well as The Village in the City.
When the parade started, Jacobson’s department store was the main anchor in The Village. Kressbach said that at the end of the parade, Santa would receive a key to the city from the mayor of Grosse Pointe City and then go into Jacobson’s, where he would meet with local children. Today, Santa meets with children in his workshop in The Village.
One year, Kressbach said, Leinweber got the Budweiser Clydesdales to appear. He said the large horses spent the night before at Neff Park, and the next morning, they led the parade.
“That year, our DPW (Department of Public Works) had pooper scoopers go through the parade,” Kressbach recalled with a chuckle.
Kressbach said some residents along the parade route would serve coffee and doughnuts to parade attendees.
“It’s a wonderful happening,” Kressbach said. “It brings people from the Pointes and all over together.”
Dozens of community groups, including Scouting troops, have marched in the parade over the decades.
“The parade has endured thanks to the unwavering support of local businesses, schools, civic groups, and families,” Boettcher said. “It’s truly a community effort, and the Chamber’s role has been to bring everyone together to keep the tradition alive. … What began as a small community procession has grown into one of the largest holiday events in the area, drawing thousands of spectators. Over the years, we’ve added more floats, marching bands, and cultural groups, while modernizing logistics and safety measures to keep the event vibrant and welcoming.”
His children are grown now, but Grosse Pointe Farms City Manager Shane Reeside can recall taking them — along with some of his nieces, nephews and even the family dog — to the parade when they were younger.
“It’s just a great hometown tradition I always loved, because it’s one of those parades where half of the community is there to watch the parade and the other half is in the parade,” Reeside said. “There’s so much community involvement.”
Boettcher has fond memories of her own family engaging with this event.
“Bringing my five boys to the parade was always one of the highlights of our holiday season,” she said. “I can still picture their excitement as Santa’s sleigh came into view and the joy they felt seeing familiar faces from school and the community marching by. When the Chamber took over organizing the Santa Parade, my boys became an essential part of the preparations —bagging meters the night before, helping deliver banners, and assisting with setup. The boys even recruited nephews and nieces to join in the fun, dressing up as dancing reindeer, inflatable elves, tin soldiers, and Christmas trees, adding to the festive spirit, and making the parade a true family affair.”
Boettcher remembers seeing the parade herself when she was a child.
“It was tradition in our family to gather at granny and grandpa’s house who live on Kercheval to watch the parade,” Boettcher said. “Granny would bring her hot chocolate cart out with donuts to share with all the grandkids, and friends.”
John Denomme, of Grosse Pointe Woods, who served as promotion manager for the Grosse Pointe Village Association from 1998 until 2013, recalled one of his most beloved parade elements in a 2015 email interview with the Grosse Pointe Times.
“I think my favorite parade unit was the caterpillar that Grosse Pointe Theatre provided for many years,” Denomme said. “It was about 30 feet long and was manned by people inside whose legs were visible under the fabric of the caterpillar — this lent an air of inauthenticity that was, at times, hysterical to watch. It reminded me of the Three Stooges inside the horse costume! It has long since been retired, probably since the early 2000s.”
After years of being run by volunteers and the Village Association, the parade was adopted by the Grosse Pointe Chamber of Commerce in 2012.
Berschback believes the chamber’s business contacts are invaluable, because parade sponsors enable organizers to pay for school marching bands, float rentals and other expenses.
“The worst part of the (parade director) job was getting the money to pay for everything,” said Berschback, who remembered “sitting in my basement on my phone” trying to drum up sponsors.
Reeside also said the chamber’s involvement has been beneficial.
“It’s really a great tradition, and I think it’s gotten bigger and better every year,” Reeside said. “So much credit goes to the Grosse Pointe Chamber of Commerce for expanding it, bringing in sponsors and adding elements.”
The parade will be preceded by the Grosse Pointe Lions Club’s 28th annual Jingle Bell Family Fun 2.2-mile Walk/Run, which will start at 8:30 a.m. on the parade route. For more information or to register for the run/walk, visit the Grosse Pointe Lions Club Facebook page.
For more information about the parade, visit grossepointechamber.com.
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