Being a member of the Distinguished Clown Corps in the annual America’s Thanksgiving Parade is sort of like being a U.S. Marine.
Over the years the thought has occurred to Duane Mezwa that, once a clown, always a clown.
At least, that’s how it feels for Mezwa, marching for the 28th time and this year doing it as the top clown, the Grand Jester.
“You do it once, you’ll continue to do it forever,” Mezwa said. “I don’t know many people who just do this one time. It gets in your blood.”
Back when Mezwa first started, potential clowns had to be nominated. A radiologist at Corewell Health (formerly Beaumont), Mezwa was nominated by his partner.
Nowadays, he pointed out, “if you want to be a clown, you’re going to be a clown,” but when Mezwa started 30 years ago (he’s missed walking a couple of years), clowns had to be nominated.
“When he nominated me, I thought, ‘I’ll try it,’” Mezwa recalled. “And that was it. You just get hooked. I loved it from the very first time. It’s a very special feeling. You get to leave yourself behind and become somebody unique for a day.
“It’s a chance to make memories not only for yourself, but for a lot of people,” he added. “And it’s just to see the looks on their faces. And for me, it really starts the whole holiday season for the rest of the year. So it has become a family tradition for us to come downtown.”
Indeed, it has become a family tradition. His three daughters all started as junior jesters and have now become clowns, one of them for some 10 years.
And this year, for the first time, Mezwa’s wife Vera – they’ve been married 48 years – will come down out of the bleachers and join him on the parade route. She had stayed back from the fray when their children were younger, sitting in the bleachers, bundled up against the weather.
They always came with Mezwa, getting up early to go to the annual pancake breakfast, getting faces painted, donning costumes.
So this year, with her husband being named Grand Jester, Vera decided this was the year to join him.
“It’s funny. I don’t think we ever really sat down and talked about it,” Vera said, smiling. “It was just sort of like, OK, I’m in the parade. (Duane) sort of decided for me.”
For his part, Mezwa admits to a little arm-twisting.
“Who knows how many more times I’m going to do this?” he said. “I’d like to make it to 30.”
Vera smiles at that, because she’s heard that before.
“He said that at 20, at 25,” she said with a chuckle. “He’d say, ‘I think I’m done; it’s a lot of walking.’”
Vera said she’s looking forward to climbing down from the bleachers, getting into a costume and walking the route along Woodward.
“Now I’m not in the bleachers watching,” she said. “It’s a whole different view of how the parade is. I mean, as a spectator is one thing, but when you’re in it, I think it’s a whole different feel.
“I am looking forward to it,” Vera added. “I’ve never been on the other side, so I can’t say until I try it. It’s a new experience.”
The parade can take a physical toll – “That three miles gets a little longer every year,” he said with a laugh – particularly as Mezwa approaches his 72nd birthday. There are always costume decisions to be made – “I’ve had a dozen different noses” – and the weather isn’t always cooperative.
“It depends on the pace of the parade,” Mezwa said. “If it’s a slow, progressive parade, it’s not too bad. But when the parade runs, you have to run. And if the weather’s not too nice … to be able to run down Woodward in the snow and the slush can sometimes be a challenge. It’s definitely tiring.”
For Mezwa and his family, the parade doesn’t necessarily end when the cameras are turned off. There’s a significant portion he enjoys after that, when he’s walking the final few blocks of the route that aren’t covered during the broadcast.
“A lot of people think that the parade ends right when we’re done off the TV, but it’s not,” he said. “There are so many kids back then … You still need beads; you still need stuff to hand out to the kids. The parade isn’t over for another few blocks.
“I always try to keep a whole arm full of beads for that walk back because there are a lot of kids who got nothing,” he added. “They weren’t upfront. They didn’t get the 10 beads like other kids did. So, I would try to find them, and everybody wants to take pictures with the clowns. That’s the most fun is walking back after the parade.”
The family ‘business’
The Thanksgiving parade had become a part of the family tradition for the Mezwa children, especially with their father such a big part of the clown corps.
Every Thanksgiving started with the early wake up, and then the trek downtown, and the early morning breakfast, face-painting, etc. The idea they’d someday also march seemed almost inevitable.
“We’ve always been participants, but at some point, we just pulled the trigger and decided to join ourselves,” said Kathryn Mezwa, Duane’s youngest daughter who got to upgrade her costume adornments this year, her fifth as a clown.
The trigger got pulled again when Katherine’s partner, Mitchell Gildenberg, decided to join.
“(Kathryn) really wanted to do it; I was a little more resistant,” Gildenberg said. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a clown. But then I tried it, and when you get down there and you’re throwing beads around, you see the vibe of everybody that just goes crazy when you throw the beads. It’s really fun. You see how much excitement people have, and you really respond to it.”
What Kathryn likes about being a clown, aside from “seeing the joy on everyone’s faces,” is what it does for her family. For the first time, all three daughters – Kathryn, Alaina and Christina – will be joining in the parade, continuing what was already, Katherine said, a “unique family tradition.”
“This year will be the first year that my entire family is doing it,” she said. “I think it’s such a unique fun fact and a crazy cool experience to do with my family. It’s getting dressed up as a clown and walking Woodward with your family on Thanksgiving Day. Not many people do that.”
It didn’t take much convincing to get Kathryn out there among the 200 or so clowns who will take to the parade route. Her dad pitched it as more of an opportunity than anything, and she was in.
“He presented the opportunity, and something felt right about saying, ‘Let’s get off the bleacher stands and get onto the street,’” Kathryn said. “I wanted in on the action. I was jealous of the fun that I saw the clowns having and was excited to create a costume that was fun and unique and a reflection of some of the stuff that I liked.”
No longer a novice, Kathryn said she’s looking forward to the parade, especially with her dad serving as Grand Jester and her mom being the unofficial “First Lady” of the Distinguished Clown Corps.
“It’s super special that my dad is being honored and I’m looking forward to seeing how he enjoys the day in that new light,” she said. “And I’m excited for my mom to finally participate and my entire family plus husbands will all be there.”
The parade has changed how the Mezwa clan celebrates the whole holiday season, not just the actual Thanksgiving Day.
For instance, Thanksgiving Eve is traditionally known as one of the biggest “party” nights of the year, with patronage of bars and restaurants at its highest.
Not so, for the Mezwas, who most often are in bed early.
“It’s different from everybody, but when you’re with coworkers or friends, it’s ‘Oh, are you going out on the biggest bar night?’” daughter Christina Rockwell said. “‘No, we don’t do that.’ ‘So, what are you guys doing for Thanksgiving?’
“And then we start telling them about our tradition,” she added. “People get enthused like we are because it’s so fun. And it’s just, like I said, a different experience than what everybody else does.”
All of that family tradition, including Duane’s participation (he’s been a clown basically the entire lives of his daughters), make Thanksgiving special for the family.
“It’s our favorite time of the year,” Alaina said. “It’s my dad’s favorite day of the year, and we just love getting together. It’s an early morning. It’s good family bonding, good food, and we look forward to it every year.”
As two generations of the family embark on the parade route this year, there’s the possibility of adding a third generation. Christina and her husband, Matt, have 9-year-old twin boys and a 7-year-old daughter; Alaina and her husband, Jonathan, have an almost-3-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son. (Kathryn and Mitchell have two dogs).
“We are figuring out who wants to start babysitting at 4:30 in the morning,” Christina said, chuckling. “My dad is notorious for being the first person to arrive at every event, the earliest bird of early birds you’ve ever, ever met.”
The crowd of clowns could be even bigger this year as the siblings get friends involved. That will make the day all the more special as Duane serves as Grand Jester.
“I think he deserves it,” Alaina said. “We’ve been doing it forever and we’re bringing a bunch of new clowns in this year. We’re going to be a huge crew.
“We’re so excited,” she added. “We’re over the moon, we’re so happy for him.”
All the memories
Obviously, having walked the parade 28 times, Duane Mezwa has built up a ton of memories. There was the time he covered a police officer in Silly String, and the officer threatened to arrest him – “He says, ‘I’m oyt here at 4:30 in the morning and you silly string me? You’re arrested!” –or the kids who put their beads behind their backs, pretending they hadn’t gotten any so they could get some more.
But it’s not just the memories that bring him joy.
“I think it’s just the smiles and all the happiness you see,” he said. “I mean, they love the clowns. I think really, after Santa, we’re probably the highlight of the parade. People look forward to us every year.”
