As it has been for millions of people over the years, going into downtown Detroit for the America’s Thanksgiving Parade was a tradition in Matt Cullen’s family.
Over the years the thought occurred to Cullen that “it might be fun” to actually be in the parade, to walk along Woodward to the adoring cheers of the million or so people who line the streets to watch.
Over the last 27 years Cullen, chairman of JACK Entertainment, chairman of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and a former president of Rock Ventures, found out he was right.
He will be having more fun again Thanksgiving morning when he dons his costume and joins some 200 others as a member of the Distinguished Clown Corps passing out beads, taking selfies and generally bringing happiness to the giant crowd.
And for a little added incentive this year, for the first time in his clown career, Cullen is the Grand Jester.
“I love the experience of walking with family and friends, seeing the kids and all the activity,” Cullen said. “It’s a part of the spirit of the parade. We get to interact with the kids, we have our beads to hand out, we greet everybody and make sure they’re having a good time. We’re there, good weather or bad weather … it creates a lot of fun.
“There’s nothing better on parade morning than having the kids want their beads, parents want to have a picture with (the clowns), everyone’s having a great time,” he added. “It’s the enjoyment of the kids, it’s the continuity of doing it with friends, it’s about getting up (Thanksgiving morning) and doing something to give back. It’s all of those things.”
The Distinguished Clowns have been one of the parade’s most popular traditions for more than four decades. Hundreds of clown wannabes willingly pay for the privilege – it is, after all, a fundraiser – and stroll the parade route, handing out beads, smiles and handshakes all along the route.
The Distinguished Clown Corps was founded in 1983 by community and business leaders as a way to increase executive involvement in both The Parade Company, which runs the parade, and the parade itself. Each year the committee that governs the corps elects a Distinguished Grand Jester this year it’s Cullen).
The DCC raises funds to support The Parade Company in producing the parade. Each clown donates a minimum of $1,000 to participate, and the proceeds support the parade for years. It’s been successful; the corps has had at least 170 members in six of the last eight years (some 200 clowns will march this year). The only years it failed to hit that number were the Covid years (the parade was virtual in 2020). Over 2,000 clowns have taken part in the DCC in the last 40 years.
According to Parade Company archives, it began with business leaders Tom Adams, then chief executive of Campbell-Ewald, and Walter McCarthy, then chief executive of Detroit Edison, who served as the spark in creating a way for leadership to become personally involved with The Parade Company.
Thanksgiving Day isn’t the only time the corps is active. During a given year, they hold committee meetings, speaking engagements, and attending the Rooftop Party & Ford Fireworks in June. During the fall, all members of the corps are invited to events leading up to the parade, including the Pancake Breakfast and the Parade Company’s annual black-tie fundraiser, Hob Nobble Gobble.
The Clown Corps committee also hosts its annual Distinguished Grand Jester’s Reception to kick-off Parade season with all current and potential new members.
John Landis has been around for nearly all of it. Three years after the Distinguished Clown Corps was started, a friend talked him into joining, and he’s been there ever since.
Landis, Vice President & Senior Trust Specialist at Credit Union Trust in the Detroit Metropolitan Area, will walk the parade route for the 37th year, the corps’ longest-serving clown.
Not only has Landis – who was once upon a time the Grand Jester – been a constant presence, he figures he has recruited maybe 40 other clowns.
The corps was smaller then – “Maybe 30 or 40 of us,” Landis recalled – and, at first anyway, he didn’t let on to friends that he was doing it.
“I never really told anybody what I did, because you say you’re a clown and what happens?” he said, laughing. “As time went on, being a Distinguished Clown, once people found out what it was all about … I’m now telling everyone I’m a clown.
“This is something that goes to a good cause … It only takes one time to walk down Woodward Avenue in front of a million people and you’re hooked. Every person I’ve sponsored has come back and said, ‘It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
For 25 years, Chris and Kim Casteel escorted VIPs along the parade route during America’s Thanksgiving Parade along Woodward in downtown Detroit.
While walking alongside their VIPs last year, the Casteels took note of how much the Distinguished Clown Corps members walking right behind them were enjoying themselves, and decided they wanted to see what all the fun was about.
So when the parade steps off Nov. 28, the Casteels will be among more than 20 brand new parade clowns.
“Last year … those (clowns) were keeping things exciting the whole way through,” Chris Casteel recalled. “We ended up meeting up at the DIA and we thought, “these clowns are having way too much fun. We need to see what’s going on here.”
Tony Michaels, the president and CEO of The Parade Company, said that last year’s parade drew 180 clowns. The parade’s highest total, he said, was 200 – “That’s our maximum,” Michael said – and parade officials are expecting that many to walk again this year.
“This year we already have 20 brand new clowns, which is amazing,” Michaels told an enthusiastic crowd at a September reception honoring the Distinguished Clown Corps and acting as a kickoff to the Thanksgiving season.
Chris Casteel, an amputee who lost his left leg 37 years ago, has decided his costume (Kim hasn’t decided just yet what hers will be) will have a robot theme, because of that artificial leg.
“I wanted to expose that, so people could see someone walking along Woodward with an artificial leg,” said Chris Casteel, who with his wife owns A New Life, a prosthetics and orthotics practice in Detroit. “We’ve been longtime supporters of people with limb loss, and sometimes the best way to do that is to show people what can be done.
“We try to give (amputees) the knowledge, help them get back on their feet and do what they want to do,” he added. “If they want to be a clown, they can be a clown.”
While they’ve enjoyed the 25 years they been VIP escorts, the Casteels are really looking forward to this year’s event.
“We love being in the parade,” Kim Casteel said. “We love the high fives, we love giving away the beads, we love the smiles. We love everything about it.”
Like all the clowns, the Casteels will get a personal design meeting with the director of costuming and select their one-of-a-kind fabric that will theme their appearance. Not only is each costume unique, but there is a tradition of years that is very visible by just a blink of an eye:
- 1 Year Half white satin and half choice of another color
- 5 Years Half liquid silver and half choice of another color
- 10 Years Half liquid gold and half choice of another color
- 15 Years Red velvet cape with a liquid gold lining
- 20 Years Half Liquid Black with choice color with 15th year cape
- 25 Years Royal blue velvet cape & costume of their choice
- 30 Years Purple velvet cape & costume of their choice
Last year, Landis became the first clown to hit 35 years, so the costumer embellished his top hat with very large varsity numbers to call out his years of dedication to the corps.
Landis remembers being asked one year how to get the 25-year colors, and after he explained it, someone said they would pay $25,000 (equal to the $1,000 a year the clowns donate).
“I told them it doesn’t working that way,” Landis said, laughing again. “You gotta earn it!”
The Thanksgiving parade isn’t the only activity in which the clowns get involved. One of the most popular takes place on Thanksgiving Eve, when a contingent of clowns greets passengers at Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus.
That’s the night airport officials and the folks at Delta Airlines host members of the Clown Corps on the busiest travel day of the year. The event is designed, officials say, to “bring holiday cheer to travelers” on the day before Thanksgiving.
Distinguished Clowns, armed with the same beads they pass out at the parade, hand them out to passengers and their families, welcoming them to Detroit and encouraging them to visit or watch the television broadcast the next day.
“This event has become a clown favorite and each year we’ve seen a significant increase in participation,” Michaels said in nominating the parade for an International Festivals and Events Association award. “Our members love being a part of welcoming travelers and reuniting families while celebrating the tradition of Thanksgiving in Detroit.”
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan helps kick off the season when it puts the DCC front-and-center for the annual Pancake Breakfast at The Parade Company, which is attended by more than 800 of metro Detroit’s key business and civic leaders, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Aside from Parade Day, it’s the highest-attended event by Corps members, as most clowns are featured as VIP Pancake Flippers and many participate in on-air interviews with local radio and television stations.
It gets a little fancier at Hob Nobble Gobble, sponsored by Ford Motor Company. Hob Nobble Gobble is The Parade Company’s premiere black-tie fundraiser. It’s held the Friday before Thanksgiving at Ford Field and is attended by more than 2,000 guests, including many Distinguished Clowns and their families.
But it’s participating in the parade that tugs at the heartstrings of the clowns themselves, all of whom are there for the same thing.
“There’s an equality to everybody,” said Landis, the longest-serving clown. “You’re all there for the same thing, and it’s just a great experience. If someone’s never had that experience, you have a good time for a good cause.”
