Hummers hijinks highlight Delaware politics

Most parade marchers toss lollipops or small promotional knick-knacks into the crowd along their route. But some of the marchers in the Middletown Hummers Parade New Year's Day, took that unofficial ritual to the next level – lobbing big, fat, pot-filled joints into the crowd.

Yes, the foot-long joints were fake paper creations. But the message Thursday was clear – reform Delaware's marijuana laws.

That wasn't the only pointed message on display this year. The 2015 version of the Hummers Parade was a particularly political one, showcasing floats taking jabs at the I-495 bridge debacle, Ebola, and reminiscing on the political hijinks of the 2014 state senatorial election when a Middletown senator's husband stole GOP signs.

"It's an election year," said Jack Good, of Newark, following the parade.

He and his wife Heather have made the trek from Newark to Middletown the last five years to see how people will depict the most talked-about celebrity mishaps, political shenanigans and any other weird, sometimes extremely local, news.

"We expected more 'hands up, don't shoot'," said Heather, referencing the activism movement to reform police departments, following the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, both black men, at the hands of white police officers.

Still, they enjoyed the spectacle, though the parade lasted not even an hour.

Clad in rollerskates and a top hat, as he is every year, "Self-Proclaimed Grand Marshal for Life," attorney John J. "Jack" Schreppler II, held a sign with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's face plastered on both sides. On one side he likens the governor, a University of Delaware alum, to a horse's nether region, after he stirred the political pot with corruption of Bridgegate in early 2014. Schreppler, perhaps as is Christie, is looking forward to 2014 being left in the dust.

"It's a year I am looking forward to forgetting," Schreppler said.

The year 2014 was also a sad one for Schreppler and Middletown. Sam Miller, a Middletown native who was honored in last year's parade died after years battling cancer. Miller's father, Dutch, was the brainchild behind the Hummers. Legend has it he'd march to his house, causing, a ruckus, to cheer his son up when he was sick.

The parade is known to cheer up locals, even in such trying times. The Yetter family, doctored-up an old 1956 Chevrolet Bel-Air in no-recall signs, as a spoof on the number of General Motors recalls this year. Even though the industry took a turn, Todd Yetter said things are looking up.

"We sort of came out of the recession, fuel prices went down," he said, adding that Middletown is blossoming.

Jonathan Zatwarnystsky wants Delaware to blossom, too, but in a slightly different way. The Claymont resident is one of the leaders of Delaware Norml, a grassroots organization looking to reform marijuana policy in the First State.

The Delaware Norml float was upfront about the group's position. Locals created a giant bong with a stuffed person attached to it breathing in a hit. Outreach in southern New Castle County, like Middletown, is crucial Zatwarnystsky said. He's found that marijuana reform is on the brain of many Delawareans.

"They are all saying it's about time," he said.

He expects a decriminalization bill to hit the Legislature once state lawmakers reconvene in January.

One of those lawmakers heading to Dover come January to potentially vote on such a measure is state Sen. Bethany Hall-Long, a Middletown Democrat. But thanks to her husband, the senator's name has been in the news cycle even before the session begins.

In October, her husband was caught stealing Republican roadway campaign signs, reading "Fix the Economy! Vote Republican." Given the hoopla the story caused, Penny Wipf and Ruster Turner of Middletown knew it would be a perfect for the Hummers.

Turner portrayed Hall-Long's GOP challenger John Marino and Wipf, as Hall-Long. The pair sat together in a red convertible to "bury the hatchet", while Wipf's husband, portraying Hall-Long's husband ran around them carrying signs.

"Mr. Bethany Hall-Long can't steal all the signs," Turner joked.

Other floats from Thursday's parade praised voluptuous stars like Nikki Minaj, with locals enhancing their curves in a few ways, and poked fun at comedian Bill Cosby's fall from grace.

Jen Rini can be reached at (302)324-2386 or jrini@delawareonline.com. Follow @JenRini on Twitter.