55 °F Ocean City, US
November 5, 2024

Ocean City Baby Parade as cute as ever at 111

SCROLL DOWN FOR A FULL GALLERY OF THE PARADE

Dozens brave heat, humidity to show off their children in elaborate costumes, floats

By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff

OCEAN CITY — Among the sights and sounds (and, in the case of one young mechanic, smells) of the shore Thursday, Aug. 12, on the boardwalk were dozens of babies decked out in costumes to complement the theme of their floats as their parents pulled them along the boardwalk in the 111th Ocean City Baby Parade.

The event drew families from near and far eager to show off their crafty creations, as well as hundreds of spectators who lined the boardwalk Thursday from Sixth to 12th streets to watch.

Participants gathered inside and outside the Sports & Civic Center ahead of the 10:30 a.m. start to get their lineup assignment and put the finishing touches on their costumes and floats while trying to keep their children happy amid the growing heat.

Thirtysomethings Dan and Amy Young of Douglassville, Pa., brought their son Carson, 17 months, along with the “Skid Mark Garage” featuring a car suspended on a lift atop a wagon. Carson had a spot in the wagon with some tools of the trade and a shop light made from a toy shovel and duct tape. Mom and Dad wore work shirts and carried a sign reading: “Skid Mark Garage, where baby mechanics are all tired and pooped out! We fix … crappy exhaust pipes, gas leaks, emissions and more. Inspections are our doody! Mom and Pop Shop.”

Kyle Wherrity, 33, and his wife, Sara, 34, brought 9-month-old Dylan to compete in the Fancy Dress category with the entry “The Shoring 20s.” Dylan and Mom were decked out as flappers in fringe dresses and headpieces while Dad was dapper in a red-and-white-striped jacket and straw hat. It’shard to image Jay Gatsby would have approved of the flip-flops, though.

“With us going into the 2020s and seeing the parallels of the 1920s and particularly coming out of the pandemic there was so much pent-up desire for excitement and everything Ocean City has to offer. I can’t think of a better way to spend the next decade than in Ocean City with donuts and dancing, pizza and prosperity,” Kyle said.

Wherrity said he has been spending time in the city since before he can remember and that participating in the parade is a family tradition, although not one he had been part of before.

“My parents never put me in it so maybe I am overcompensating,” he  said.

Dylan also participated in the Pamper Scamper two days earlier, winning her first heat in the crawling race but quickly tiring and then retiring to rest up for the parade.

Collegeville, Pa., resident Paula White and her granddaughter Delaney Leszcynski re-created a photograph of White and Delaney’s mother, Jena Leszcynski, 36, taken 35 years ago during the parade in 1986. Delaney sat atop a cotton candy cart while White, sporting a pink apron and white server hat, pushed the cart along.

“It’s absolutely amazing” to be able to do this, White said. “Since I pushed it back then I thought it would be appropriate for me to do it again.”

She said she took part in 15 straight parades, from 1986 to 2001, including during the 100th anniversary parade.

“It’s just a family tradition that my mom put me in so many years and it was an honor to be part,” White said, noting it has never rained during her years of participating.

A family from Upper Deerfield Township in Cumberland County created a stegosaurus float. Lily Parsinitz, 7, road atop on the dinosaur’s back dressed as a jungle explorer. Others participating were her mother, Lauren; sister Olivia, 11; aunt Lisa Rosario; grandmother Susan Rosario, who created the entry; John Dezeeuw and Quintin Koreck.

Tom and Rebecca Firmani proved the parade is not just for tourists and seasonal homeowners. The Ocean City couple set out with a lofty goal in mind but scaled back a bit when they realized it was more work than they could handle.

“I was trying to do a space race like Richard Branson and Jeff Beezos, but it was a little more than I could chew so we did aliens instead,” Rebecca said. “It felt very on-trend.”

So instead of being billionaires, Vivian, 3, and Nicholas, 1, were extraterrestrials.

Tom said he was in the parade with his brother 50 years ago and that his mother was in it 70 years ago.

Rebecca said they were in the parade in 2018 with Vivian, before Nicolas was born.

“It was fun and a creative thing to do and a fun outlet and nice to do a local event, so we decided to do it with both kids this year — which might have been a mistake because he is systematically destroying the float,” she said.

Winners in the 111th annual Ocean City Baby Parade

Bamberger Award

Number:  401  

Names: Giavanna Todd

Theme: Giavanna’s Gelateria 

Hanscom Award

Number:  400                    

Names: Dior Fulton        

Theme: The Hungry Caterpillar 

Dahlhausen Award

Number:  702    

Names: Lily Parsinitz    

Theme: Spikes Dinosaur Tour of the Jersey Shore            

Canale Award

Number: 707

Names: RD, Bodie and Oakley Webber 

Theme: OC-On in a Melon!

Soifer Award

Number: 706

Names: Owen Bowker 

Theme: Toy Story in OC

Most Outstanding Twins or Triplets

Number: 705

Names: Mariah & PJ McMahon

Theme: Two Sweet Twins

Greatest Distance Traveled

Number: 416

Names: Elizabeth Gerger

Theme: From the Shores of Madison, Ohio

From Madison, Ohio

Division A Section 100 Winner

Number: 100

Names: Delaney Leszcynski        

Theme: Sweet as Cotton Candy!

Division A Section 100 Runner Up

Number: 104                                     

Names: Grace Labriola  

Theme: A Carousel of Dreams   

Division A Section 200 Winner

Number: 202                                                    

Names: Heap Babies     

Theme: OC Lifeguards

Division A Section 200 Runner Up

Number: 200     

Names: Alexandra & Isabella Vital           

Theme: Mermaids of Corson’s Inlet       

Division A Section 300 Winner

Number: 303                                                     

Names: Grace & Tierney Kane  

Theme: Butterflies        

Division A Section 300 Runner Up

Number: 302

Names: Lillian Albright, Thomas & Samantha Dickinson

Theme: As American as Baseball, Apple Pie and OC

Division B Section 400 Winner

Number: 402

Names: Evelyn Joanna Stencler               

Theme: Baby Yoda         

Division B Section 400 Runner Up

Number: 416                     

Names: Elizabeth Gerger             

Theme: From the Shores of Madison, Ohio

Division B Section 500 Winner

Number: 503                                    

Names: Vivian & Nicholas Firmani            

Theme: OCNJ Space Race            

Division B Section 500 Runner Up

Number: 509

Names: Jackson & Cameron Davis           

Theme: Country Western in OC               

Division B Section 600 Winner

Number: 601                     

Names: Jacob Lynch, Sawyer & Savannah Moulen           

Theme: Mario Brothers

Division B Section 600 Runner Up

Number: 602

Names: Cameron & Allessandra DaSilva, Deacon & Johanna Jones           

Theme: Mario Kart         

Division C Winner

Number: 703

Names: Beckett & Kenna Adams             

Theme: Pollination — save the bees and butterflies!         

Division C Runners Up

Number: 704                                     

Names: Luca Chmielewski           

Theme: Sitting on The Dock of the Bay!

Number: 701    

Names: Dominic & Calvin Pezzella, Cameron & Jordan Monks, Emma Pacholski

Theme: Moanna

Best Float: OCTC Show Choir     

Best Musical Act: Absegami Marching Braves

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