MANAYUNK

By Jane Lipton

(Photo by Bastiaan Slabbers/Newsworks)

Less than 24 hours after the event, Joe DeCandido of Advent and I took some time to reflect on the amazing day we had in Manayunk this past weekend. The second annual Mummers Mardi Gras Parade in Manayunk was a huge success, the event nearly quadrupling in size with an estimated 15,000 people attending.

I've been asked many times why this event is so important to me and the answer is very personal. I recall fondly attending the New Year's Day event for many years as a child, tightly gripping the hands of my father or grandfather and watching the Mummers decked out in a dazzling array of feathers, sequins, and bright colors strut by me while playing their instruments. The music of the string bands became part of the soundtrack to my early childhood. Standing on the front steps of the Manayunk Development Corporation, I was given a unique view of the festivities. As the string bands strolled by, I announced their names and their sponsors over the three-quarter mile PA system we have on Main Street. I did this for two reasons: 1.) To make sure that each string band got all the recognition that was due and 2.) Because it was so important to recognize the businesses that sponsored each of these bands. In the end, it is the local businesses that made the parade possible, helping us to raise nearly $25,000 for the Mummers this year.
 
When Joe approached me with this idea more than two years ago, I lept at the chance. The first year of our parade (last year), we had some unexpected obstacles. Heavy snowfall three days before the event forced us to move the parade to the following weekend. With snow still on the ground that next Saturday and with temperatures in the teens, we were thrilled to see the 3,000-4,000 people who came out to greet the Mummers. We felt it was a huge success, leaving us perfectly positioned to throw a bigger and better parade raising much more money for our beloved string bands in the second year.

This turned out not to be true as negative press over the antics of a few comics at the New Year's Day Parade threw a dark cloud over everything connected with the Mummers. What should have been an easy second-year to promote and find sponsorship turned out to be very, very difficult. While the businesses on Main Street quickly lined up to support the event and help in any way possible, sponsors shied away.
 
In the end, I got a phone call early one evening responding to an article in the Inquirer about the lack of sponsorship for our 2016 parade. The voice on the other end of the line said, "Is this Jane?"

I said, "Yes it is. Who is calling?"

"Bob," the voice said.

"I'm sorry," I said. "Bob who?"

The voice replied, "Bob Brady."

I couldn't believe it. Congressman Brady calling me on my drive home from work. He went on to say to me, "Keep in touch with me, let me know how fundraising is going. We're not going to let the Mummers down."

And so it was that two days before this year's Mummers Mardi Gras Parade in Manayunk, Congressman Bob Brady presented a check from the Traditions Fund for $8,000 at a press conference on Main Street, the exact amount we needed to make sure we could fulfill our pledge to fund the String Bands. Well of course, the press turned out in droves. A congressman, especially a Mummer-strutting congressman, is a draw every day of the week! The weekend section of the Inquirer gave us the cover and two full pages inside. Channels 3, 6, 10, and 17, Newsworks and KYW reported that the parade was just two days away and that it was going to be a fabulous.

In that one moment, all of the media seemed to regain it's faith and love of one of Philadelphia's oldest and greatest traditions. The press urged people to come out to the parade and enjoy an up close and personal experience with their beloved string bands. As an event producer, I can't begin to tell you what it meant to me personally to see not only the media, but Philadelphians as well, come out and support the parade in such great numbers. Joe and I stood on the elevated front steps of the Manayunk Development Corporation looking out over a sea of smiling faces, embracing each other and simultaneously saying, "What a great day!"
 
I do want to take a moment here to say thank you to Penn Beer Sales & Service, who are located right here in the heart of the Roxborough-Manayunk community, for coming back a second year and keeping the faith. Penn was the only main sponsor to return for the second year. Joe and I continued to push onward in preparation for the parade. The team that we put together, Jess, Caitlin, Leo, Colleen, Joan, and Gwen, put in an amazing effort to make the parade even better.

One of the highlights of my day was a man who walked up to me while I was announcing the event, he had a huge grin on his face and shouted over the noise of the crowd and the string bands playing, that he hadn't been back to Manayunk since 1957. He looked at me and grinned ear to ear.

"I saw it in the paper and felt like I had to come back," he said. I asked him if he ever imagined that he would see string bands marching down Main Street. He looked at me at that moment, almost in a wistful way, and said, "No. No I never did. It's beautiful!"

I shouted to him and asked him his name as he was starting to walk away. He turned and said something back to me but it was drowned out by the music and in a next second he was lost in the crowd of dancing, singing, and cheering people.