THE ORIGINAL MARCHING FRED IS DEAD

I could make a Fred joke but that would be

      I could make a Fred joke but that would be disrespectful. The original Fred has gone off to that Great Strut in the Sky.  While he was here, Fred Tasker believed -with a twinkle in his eye- that people with his name should be more appreciated.

     Most of you know about the fabulous wacky parade we started back in '82, Coconut Grove's "King Mango Strut".  Miami Herald writer, Fred Tasker, gave us much of the support and publicity we needed to get our rag-tag minions marching as we have for forty years.

     Mr T was its original Marching Fred and he just passed away at his home in Michigan at 79. 

    In the early 80's he wrote a humor column filled with local gossip. Later he became know as the Herald's "wine writer". I thought this new position was much too serious until I realized he got paid to drink. 

 

     Way back I was doing PR work to promote a new, weird parade, the "King Mango Strut" and the two of us hit it off. He loved the idea and after the first one succeeded. he proposed entering his own group, "The Marching Freds". 

    He felt folks with his first name deserved more respect and through the years, there came to be more than one hundred of 'em strutting in his zany, colorful group. There were Fred Flintstones, guys holding "Better Fred Than Dead"and "Take a Fred to Bed" signs, and even the occasional "Fredrika". 

 

    They got as much respect as Rodney Dangerfield and through the years, Fred and his gang -like Rodney- made us laugh very, very much. The last time I checked there were still a few Freds marching in the Grove's annual parade.  A couple of 'em even passed across the screen as it marched virtually last December.

    One year we held a fund-raiser at Monty's. Fred was our guest expert hosting the Strut's "Cheap Wine Tasting Extravaganza".  I recall him sniffing a glass of Ripple and commenting, "The smell is no worse than rubbing alcohol and its perfect dark red color hides the particles you don't want to see".  

We had a blast that night and raised over $132.

     It is a small world. Early on we discovered we were both married to Michigan women who

happened to be related. Some summers we'd get together at family reunions up there...but mostly,

Cousin Fred and I had a great time on the last Sunday of the year. We strutted ourselves silly at the parade we loved in the streets of Coconut Grove.

                           _____________

he original Fred has gone off to that Great Strut in the Sky.  While he was here, F believed -with a twinkle in his eye- that people with his name should be more appreciated.

     Most of you know about the fabulous wacky parade we started back in '82, Coconut Grove's "King Mango Strut". Miami Herald writer, Fred  gave us much of the support and publicity we needed to get

our rag-tag minions marching as we have for forty years.

     Mr T was its original Marching Fred and he just passed away at his home in Michigan at 79. In the early 80's he wrote a humor column with local news. Later he became know as a "wine writer" which I though was much too serious  until I realized he got paid for drinking.

   

      Way back I was doing PR work to promote a new, weird parade, the "King Mango Strut" and the two of us hit it off. He loved the idea and after the first one succeeded he proposed entering his own group,

"The Marching Freds". He felt folks with his name deserved more respect and through the years, there came

to be more than one hundred of 'em strutting in his zany group. There were Fred Flintstones,

guys holding "Better Fred Than Dead" signs, and and even the occasional "Fredrika". They got as much respect as Rodney Dangerfield and through the years, Fred and his gang -like Rodney- made us laugh very, very much. The last time I checked there were still a few Freds marching in the Grove's annual parade.  A couple or 'em even passed across the screen as it marched virtually last December.

       Small world. Early on we discovered we were both married to Michigan women that

happened to be related. Some summers we'd get together at family reunions up there...but mostly,

Cousin Fred and I had a great time on the last Sunday of the year, strutting ourselves silly, at the parade we both loved in the streets of Coconut Grove.

                                           _____________