By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
With temperatures hovering near a blistering 90 degrees, one unusual visitor to Sea Isle City came prepared for his trip to the shore Thursday afternoon.
The head-turning, 7-foot-tall, furry orange creature with googly eyes and a hyperactive personality was dressed in a pair of oversized sunglasses and a Hawaiian print swimming suit.
“Gritty!” his fans shouted in adoration.
Deftly riding his bike while exchanging high-fives with spectators, the mega-star Philadelphia Flyers mascot led a colorful parade through the streets of Sea Isle to the delight of onlookers who braved the heat.
“We love Gritty. We love the Flyers. All my life, we’ve been big Flyers fans,” said Rocco Marrandino, who was joined by his wife, Renee, and their 5-year-old daughter, Giavanna.
The Marrandinos, of Ridley, Pa., got to pose for a family portrait with Gritty just moments before the parade began rolling down Central Avenue near the Dealy Field recreation complex at 63rd Street amid a sea of orange and black Flyers jerseys and other regalia.
Giavanna Marrandino, who was dwarfed by Gritty, smiled broadly while standing next to him for a picture. She seemed surprised, though, to see Gritty at the shore ready to hit the beach in his swimming suit instead of clowning around on the ice at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers arena.
“I like it when he’s on the ice,” she said.
Giavanna and her parents were all decked out in orange shirts in support of Gritty and the Flyers.
Along with the Marrandinos, hundreds of other spectators lined the sidewalks as the Flyers Community Caravan rolled into Sea Isle as part of a summer “Shore Tour” that includes stops at other beach communities.
In addition to Gritty, the spectators got to see former Flyers player Bob “The Hound” Kelly, a 1975 championship team alum. Kelly, who now serves as a Flyers ambassador, has become a familiar figure in town with all of his appearances at the team’s events in Sea Isle over the years.
The parade was the latest event in a long association between Sea Isle and Philly’s NHL franchise. Over the years, current and former Flyers have held mini hockey clinics and participated in other community outreach programs in the beach town.
Even while the pandemic raged in 2020, the Flyers came to Sea Isle during the summer for a mobile pep rally – so-named because of the need for social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak.
On Thursday, the Gritty-led procession got underway at around 3 p.m. Fire trucks blared their sirens and flashed their lights while escorting Flyers-themed vehicles along Central Avenue south to 82nd Street and then north on Landis Avenue for the return trip to Dealy Field at 63rd Street
“My thanks go to the Flyers organization for once again including Sea Isle City in their summer event schedule. We look forward to having them back in town again,” Mayor Leonard Desiderio said in a statement.
The caravan included giveaways of Flyers merchandise to spectators standing along the parade route.
Marty Burns, of Bensalem, Pa., was handed some Flyers-themed flip-flops, a beach bucket hat and a bandanna. His children, Alerrah, Michael and Laura, also got some free Flyers swag.
“Am I Gritty enough?” 9-year-old Laura joked of her Flyers-inspired outfit to her father.
Burns, whose parents own a home in Sea Isle, counts himself as a lifelong Flyers fan.
“Since Day 1,” he said. “I’m 45 years old. I was a season ticket holder for seven years.”
However, he made no attempt to hide his disappointment with the Flyers dismal performance last season.
“The sport lives in us. But I never remember not rushing home to watch the TV,” he said of how his interest in the Flyers games began to wane last season as the losses mounted.
Yet Burns and his children proudly showed their loyalty to the Flyers while watching the high-energy Gritty and the rest of the Flyers retinue pass by on Central Avenue as the parade began.
“Michael, would you say we’re crazy Flyers fans?” Burns asked his 10-year-old son.
“Yeah!” Michael replied.
