Pilgrim Lane Mom’s Co-Op 25th Annual Parade

Everyone loves a parade and for 25 years the Pilgrim Lane Mom’s Co-op has had one to celebrate the neighborhood, families and simply to have fun.

Formerly known as the Pilgrim Lane Babysitting Co-op, the group of stay-at-home mothers formed about 30 years ago.

“The Co-op was started by a group of stay-at-home moms who wanted a way to swap babysitting during the day and also get out and meet other moms,” said member Teresa Scholtz.

Some years the parade has been more of a gathering, but for 25 years has continued to happen each year. The parade centers around Pilgrim Lane Elementary School, which closed in 2009.

“Since then the parade is really the only whole neighborhood event of the year,” Scholtz said. “The children of the mom’s Co-op go to a handful of schools now, not just a couple. It's a great way to connect with other moms in the neighborhood that you wouldn't otherwise meet.” 

Leslie Gentner, Co-op member from 1999 to 2010, said that the parade began when co-founders JoAnne Kostka and Pat McKee decided they needed to have a “kiddy” parade for their children to walk in.

In the beginning, the parade lasted only one block, but soon it became an annual tradition growing to the longer version it is now, she said. The longer version starts in the Pilgrim Lane parking lot, goes down 39^th Street, Union Terrace and returns on the bike path nearby.

“For many years the parade ended in front of Joanne’s, she and her husband would run extension cords for microphones and set up stages,” Gentner said. “Many mothers and Pilgrim Lane community people would help with the parade throughout the years. In the 1990’s, when their children were in high school, the Babysitting Co-op took over the organization of the parade.”

The Co-op started out as a great solution for fair exchange of childcare so mothers could attend appointments and volunteer at school. The group had a ticket system that made it easy to trade childcare fairly.

How it worked

“Usually as your kids got older, you provided more than you used and ended up with a surplus of tickets, which were turned back in to the Co-op when your youngest [child] became a first grader,” Gentner said.

In its original form, the bylaws spelled out specific rules for membership and use of the ticket system exchanged for babysitting. 

As the neighborhood demographics changed and fewer families had an at-home parent full-time the Co-op adapted by emphasizing the connection of moms of all work statuses and was renamed the Pilgrim Lane Moms Co-op. It kept the babysitting exchange intact, but has not been used much the past four to five years, she said.

“They now use email and Facebook to keep in touch and meet monthly for those who can make it,” Gentner said. “The Co-op has kept going mostly by word of mouth ‘invitation’ by other members who often meet at the Pilgrim Lane playground.”

The annual parade flyer also provides people with the Co-op’s contact information for those interested.

“The Co-op’s history has been a connecting thread for many generations of families in the neighborhood with the occasional grandma’s commenting, ‘is that still going,’ when encountering a conversation about the Co-op,” Gentner said. “We are very proud of this heritage of the families of Pilgrim Lane.”

The parade line up begins at 6:45 p.m. and the parade itself is at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 17, with float judging, prizes and more to follow at Pilgrim Lane Elementary School in Plymouth.

Mayor Kelli Slavik is the parade’s Grand Marshall and the event will also include McGruff the crime dog, emergency vehicles, many parade floats, prizes, treat bags and more.