Sumpter Township Police Chief Eric Luke will serve as the Grand Marshal of Saturday’s 40th Strawberry Festival Parade that steps off from Belleville High School at 11 a.m.
The parade route is the same as ever, down West Columbia Avenue to Five Points and then down the middle of Main Street between crafters and vendors’ booths to the museum, where awards are presented and the parade disbands.
Chief Luke, who grew up in the Belleville area and lives in the city of Belleville, was recently named police chief in Sumpter Township.
Another one of the special highlights of the parade is the new Strawberry Festival Queen and her court who were selected the night before the parade.
The public is invited to the pageant at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the BHS Auditorium.
34th District Court Chief Judge Tina Brooks Green is coordinator of the parade and she lists the following entries. They will not appear in this order.
- Augusta Fire Department
- Wayne County Fairgrounds 4-H Program
- Jitterbugs Elite Dance
- Van Buren Township Police and Color Guard
- Van Buren Township Elected Officials
- Van Buren Township Fire Dept.
- Belleville Elected Officials
- Belleville Fire Dept.
- Sumpter Township elected officials
- Sumpter Township Fire Dept.
- Phil Hart for Van Buren Township Supervisor
- Reggie Miller, Van Buren Township Trustee
- American Heritage Girls
- Kevin McNamara for Van Buren Township Supervisor
- Committee to Elect Brenda McClanahan Van Buren Township Supervisor
- Wayne County Commissioner Al Haidous
- Buy Nearby
- Belleville Wrestling Club
- Belleville Area Women’s Club
- Belleville Central Business Community
- Kristy Pagan for State Representative
- Retired Iron (Antique Farm Tractors)
- State Representative Erika Geiss
- Harmony Acres Arabian Parade Horses
- Belleville High School Marching Band
- River of Life
- Meijer
- Taylor Shrine Club Tin Lizzies
- Wayne County Community College District
- Moslem Shriners
- Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce
- Developpe Dance and Performing Arts Co.
- Holiday Inn Express and Suites
- Elect Sherry Frazier Van Buren Township Trustee
- Cub Scout Pack 924
- Culver’s
- The Bardell Team for Sumpter Township
- Madonna University Women’s Basketball Team
- Belleville Area District Library
- Studz Hardware
- P&P Dance
- Great Lakes Towing and Recovery
- Belleville Lacrosse
- TCF Bank
- Southwestern Wayne Democratic Club
- Michael and Sons mobile RV service
- Wayne Westland Special Olympics
- Michigan Warrior Youth Football
- Young Miss Michigan Pure International Pageant
- Open Arms Lutheran Church and Daycare
- Greca Choi Kwang Do Demo Team
Extreme Water Sports
Other special events on Saturday include Extreme Water Sports shows at 2 and 5 p.m. on Belleville Lake in front of Horizon Park, where festival-goers can watch the fun.
Festival events will be happening at six venues, with most on Main Street and at the St. Anthony Catholic Church grounds.
The Central Business Community will have juried crafters lined up along Main Street and there also are vendors along the street, closed off for the week end. A white tiger exhibit returns to the intersection of Main and Third streets and Chobani Yogurt will be handing out samples at its location. Main Street also had a carnival midway.
A large number of events always take place at the St. Anthony grounds on West Columbia Avenue, including a carnival, bingo, entertainment and lots of food.
Trinity Episcopal Church on Belleville Road, just south of I-94, features lots of strawberries in everything from smoothies to sundaes and tarts to pies and breads and jams. The church’s special sloppy joes also are served.
The Kona Strawberry Run is 7 p.m. Friday from Horizon Park. The beer tickets given out at the end will be redeemable at St. Anthony’s beer tent.
The Belleville Area Lions Club will be selling tickets to raffle off a 26” Men’s Brutus fat-tire bike. Their booth will be on Belleville Road in front of Trinity church.
Belleville Presbyterian Church on Belleville Road will be offering tours of its Martha Mary Chapel and also will offer free parking for the trolley shuttle that stops at all festival venues.
Belleville Presbyterian also is offering a Strawberry Festival rummage sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. Also, Karate demonstrations will be given Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The water show is at Horizon Park and the annual Father’s Day car show put on by Cinnamons on Sunday is at Victory Park.