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Join the Parade!
Back by popular demand, on Tuesday morning, July 4th, GGRWHC will honor our forebears by re-enacting suffragists parading on Grand Rapids streets over a hundred years ago. Join us and join the fun at the Hollyhock Lane Parade!
GGRWHC suffrage marchers have always mixed just plain fun with serious business. At the same time we honor the political efforts of Grand Rapids women a century ago, we use their parade model to advertise the mission of the GGRWHC today. Visible ourselves, we make our forebears visible.
In this Ottawa Hills neighborhood parade that was first held in 1934, we will be joining politicians, National Guard trucks, kids on decorated bikes, the Hollymock Band, and--well---anyone who wants to march! (See links to films and photos at the bottom.) Festive paraders throw candy and hand out brochures, then gather in Hollyhock Lane for a brief program featuring Uncle Sam and Miss Liberty. A great way to begin the holiday!
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R.I.P. Willie, our former suffragist dog! This year meet Petey!
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Meet us at 8:00 am at the northeast corner of Calvin and Alexander SE. Look for our gaudy yellow and purple GGRWHC marching banner, the "suffragists" in white, and Petey, the suffragist dog!
We will have "Votes for Women" signs, pennants, and sashes for you to use. If you can, dress in something that looks vintage--"looks" being  the operative term--but wear as much white as you can manage. Women, wear a hat, if you have one; men, also a hat or borrow one of the boater hats we will have on hand.
We'll have a few other items you could borrow or just come!
Push a stroller or be pushed in a wheelchair. All ages welcome to the fun!
Details Details
Hollyhock Lane Parade: Friday, July 4, 2017
Information is also posted on the GGRWHC website. With questions, please e-mail info@ggrwhc.org or call (616) 574-7307.
8:00: GGRWHC participants will meet on the northeast corner of
 Calvin and Alexander near the Hollyhock Lane alley. Park in the lot of East Congregational Church on Giddings or anywhere else in the area. If you get lost that morning, call 443-4946.
8:30: Parade begins: north on Calvin to Franklin, to Pontiac, south on Iroquois to Alexander, north on Giddings, ending in Hollyhock Lane.
9:00: Ceremonies follow immediately in "Hollyhock Lane," the alleyway the alley behind 847 Giddings SE.
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Hollyhock History!
Become an honorary neighbor in Ottawa Hills for morning festivities celebrated on Hollyhock Lane since 1934. The following links will illustrate the informality and welcoming nature of the event. This
film clip gives the best overall look at the parade--politicians, firetrucks, kids on bikes and in wagons, candy, flags, and the Hollymock Band.
This longer clip is all parade. The Hollymock Band appears at a minute-and-a-half in; and at two-and-a-half minutes, a couple of floats.
View old and more recent
photos of Uncle Sam & Miss Liberty and don't miss the very last one on page 2 of a rather young
Gerald Ford in the parade.
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