By Paul Leighton
BEVERLY — The 62nd annual Beverly Holiday Parade on Sunday will include the usual assortment of floats, marching bands and politicians. It will also include the unusual assortment of guys from the Kora Shriners Log Rollers.
The Log Rollers are a group of 27 Shriners from Lewiston, Maine, who ride in parades in miniature trailer trucks. Wearing their red fezzes, the men stuff themselves into the tiny trucks and weave in and out throughout the parade, delighting kids and causing everyone to wonder how they manage to avoid crashing into each other.
With the parade set to step off from the Cummings Center at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, we asked Albert Cannell, director of the Kora Shriners Log Rollers, about this unique group.
How long have the Log Rollers been around?
Our unit formed around 1989.
Who came up with the idea?
Our founder is Harold "Pops" Jordan. He's always been a logger. The miniature trailer trucks pertain to the logging industry.
What's the connection between Shriners and miniature trucks?
Shriners are always associated with big men and little things, like go-carts or miniature cars or trucks. They just like to do fun things like that. We're all about the children's hospitals that we benefit. It's for the kids. They get a kick out of us big men in our little trucks.
How many trucks do you have?
We have 25 now. We buy them out of the Midwest somewhere.
How big are they? Is it tough to fit in?
They're about 15 feet long and 3 feet wide. We power them with 5-horsepower motors. Some of our guys are pretty big. We have to kind of slide in.
Does it take a lot of practice to do the maneuvers you guys do?
Not actually. We have our new members ride in the wrecker that follows us along and just watch things. You get a chance to watch and see how it goes. When they get comfortable, they slide up there and start playing.
Do you have many accidents?
Every once in a while, we have a little misdemeanor. When that happens, the crowd loves it.
What's the worst accident you've been in?
I got T-boned once. Got hit in the side. One guy, he jigged when he should've jagged. (Laughs). Fortunately, there haven't been any real bad wrecks.
I lost my brakes once and ran over my leg trying to stop it. It ripped my uniform.
How many trucks will be in the Beverly parade?
Around 15. We usually have a good turnout down there. We love that parade. The people are nice, and it's a real fun parade.
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@salemnews.com.
