Keystone Kops on the loose

Noaki Schwartz

BALBOA ISLAND -- The only thing missing from the flurry of residents

falling over each other to plan the first Balboa Island Day Parade in

1994 was the Keystone Kops, observed resident Ken Lindahl.

So he added them.

Back in the 1910s -- before talkies hit the movie scene -- director Max

Sennett created the clutch of fumbling policemen that made audiences weep

with laughter. The Kops would jump into their Model-A and the tires

would fall off. They were clumsy. They were goofy. They were slapstick.

And it appears that the “Little Bal Island Keystone Kops” were just what

the two-block parade needed. The group of four -- Lindahl and Steve

Bromberg, Mickey Dunlap and Earl McDaniel -- annually shed their

poker-faced images as career men to slip into complete silliness.

In donning the tall gray hats and red and white socks, a transformation

takes place, said attorney and community activist Bromberg.

“I think we’ve just never grown up,” he added. “It would take an active

insurrection to keep us out of there. We have no shame.”

The group will perform in the June 4 procession themed “The Jewel of the

Harbor.” The four-man entry will be joined by the Sheriff’s Department

mounted color guard, antique cars and floats.

The parade was originally organized as a one-time celebration

commemorating the opening of the island’s new Fire Station. That first

year, 2,500 people lined the streets in homemade T-shirts honoring the

firefighters.

Thanks in part to the popularity of the Kops, however, this year’s

organizers are expecting nearly double the attendance.

The Keystone Kops plan to make sure there are no lulls in the crowds’

energy, Dunlap said.

“Most people want to play,” McDaniel added. “Even the big, bald guy with

a lot of tattoos.”

And even the elderly lady sitting quietly watching the parade has been

jolted into laughter by a Keystone Kop yelling “strip search!” McDaniel

said, laughing.

FYI:

* What: Balboa Island Day Parade

* When: 11 a.m. June 4; participants will begin lining up at 6:30 a.m.

* Where: Procession will march on Marine Avenue, with the staging area

headquartered at the Union Bank.

* Phone: To volunteer, call Helen Shull or Jack Callahan at (949)

673-2130 or the Balboa Island Improvement Assn. at (949) 675-1773.

NOTE: All three blocks of Marine Avenue will be closed at 10:30 a.m. June

4.