DETROIT (WWJ) – It’s almost that time of year again. America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit is right around the corner and on Thursday The Parade Company announced Detroit legends Huel Perkins and Lomas Brown will be the parade’s Grand Marshals.
(Image credit: Brad Ziegler)
Perkins, an Emmy Award-winning journalist and news anchor, spent 33 years at Fox 2 in Detroit until he retired in 2022. Brown serves as the Detroit Lions’ radio broadcast color analyst on 97.1 The Ticket, having spent 11 seasons as an All-Pro offensive lineman with Detroit.
The Parade Company also announced the theme of this year’s parade – carried live by WDIV in Metro Detroit on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23 – will be “A Heart of History.” Detroit’s annual parade has been voted as the No. 1 Holiday Parade in the country by USA Today.
Speaking live on WWJ Thursday afternoon, Perkins said he was “shocked, but extremely honored” to be the Grand Marshal of what he calls a “grand and glorious tradition in Detroit.”
“Let’s make it clear: Lomas is the star, I’m a supporting player,” Perkins humbly said. “I’m just happy to be a part of it. It’s gonna be a great day for the city.”
Perkins said he hopes he’s done enough and touched enough people in a positive way during his time in benefit “so that they see some benefit to what I’ve done and who I am.”
Perkins told WWJ’s Tony Ortiz he felt there were more deserving people to be Grand Marshal.
“When I was selected, I recommended some other people,” he said with a laugh. “But I am truly honored and it does mean a lot to me and also to my family. It’s a wonderful honor and I cherish it.”
As the parade marks the unofficial start of the Christmas season in Detroit, Perkins says his favorite part of the parade is always seeing Santa Claus, as well as the marching bands heading down Woodward and seeing the kids’ faces “light up with wonder and enjoyment.”
The Parade Company says “a series of exciting announcements” regarding this year’s parade will be coming in the next few weeks.