‘You can always come home’: 47th annual Penngrove Parade, barbecue draws thousands

Five-year-old Elias Sandeen sat on top of his dad’s shoulders, munching on Sour Patch Kids on Sunday morning as a procession of trailers filled with hay bales, Model T’s and firetrucks drove down Main Street, through the heart of Penngrove.

He occasionally tapped his father on the shoulder and encouraged him to “Look!” as portions of the 47th annual Biggest Little Parade in Northern California passed by.

His sister, 6-year-old Noelle, stood next to her mom and baby brother, waiting for the horses decorated in star-spangled getups ― with blue and red stars painted on their rears ― to pass by.

She also collected candy when she could and tried to keep cool, or at least told her mom when she was hot, as the sun beamed down and temperatures climbed into the 90s.

It was the two Penngrove Elementary School students’ and their parents’ first time attending the Penngrove Parade, which featured dozens of floats, vintage cars and other impressive vehicles. The event was followed Sunday by the popular barbecue in Penngrove Park.

During the barbecue, volunteers with Penngrove Social Firemen, which put on the event, served up their pit beef and barbecue chicken and local organizations, such as Penngrove 4-H and the Penngrove Elementary School PTA, set up booths to offer sweets and games.

Vendors, such as Cat-Hawk Gardens, worked to sell anything from puppets to jewelry to plants.

On paper, the parade is a fundraiser benefiting the Penngrove Clubhouse and Penngrove Park, which also provides support to local groups. Unofficially, though, for locals, the event is the community’s biggest reunion party.

Michelle Petroni, 34, grew up in Penngrove.

From the spot where she sat to enjoy the parade, she said she saw the building she went to preschool in, the location of the now-burned-down Palace of Fruit, where her dad would pick up frozen ravioli, and could picture the location of the feed store around the corner.

Petroni and her hometown friends, who all live in other locations now, had met up Sunday morning to kick off the event.

“It just brings you back to your childhood memories and being proud of where you came from,” she said. “No matter where you are ... You can always come home.”

Dennis Drew, 77, a Petaluma resident who farms in Penngrove, said he has been coming to the parade for more than 50 years. The main reason: To see friends.

“I see a lot of people I only see once a year,” said Drew, whose nephew drove his dark blue 1928 Willys-Knight in the parade.

Drew also dropped off about 300 pounds of ice and two cases of beer to his friend who was passing out cans and bottles to neighbors to help “get the party started.”

It wasn’t the only neighborly act taking place Sunday morning.

The landlords of married couple Cynthea and Peter Stinski secured a golf cart for the couple to use to ride to and from the parade because Cynthea is eight-months pregnant. They also dressed up the vehicle in Dollar Store garb.

Carolina Mejia, 30, of Santa Rosa, said she attended the event because her boyfriend has been talking about it since they first met. And it lived up to the hype.

“I just think it’s really sweet that everyone’s together and it’s such a tight-knit community,” she said.

While community was the big draw for some people, for others, such as 18-year-old Hugo Hernandez, their motivation was much simpler.

“I really like the barbecue,” Hernandez said.

While some trickled home due to the heat after the parade, others stuck around and enjoyed the later festivities.

Eoin Hurley, who will turn 4 on Independence Day, got two temporary tattoos.

On the second go, he got talked into a mustache with stars and stripes above his lip. He took one look after the paper was peeled off, scrunched up his face and removed it.

“I don’t want it,” he told his parents.

Other kids crawled through the jungle gym, tried to toss rings over clinking bottles and chugged slushies.

Across the gravel, closer to the bar, the adults bought $5 cocktails and beers, grabbed some barbecued meats and sweets and listened to live music. Hundreds sat, including Drew, under umbrellas at the covered picnic tables eating their half chickens with all the fixings, including macaroni salad.

The event, Drew said, still feels the same since when he first started going. It’s just a little bit bigger.

“It’s just getting a lot more people now,” he said. “It’s a good thing.”

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @madi.smals.