On September 18th, Heather and Josalynn started the day at the Eastern Market tailgate
On Monday night, the undefeated (yes, you read it correctly) Detroit Lions will host the Chicago Bears at a sold out Ford Field. And their unofficial dance squad, the Detroit Pride Cheerleaders, will be there to cheer them on! If their first regular season game on September 18th is any indication, it will be a traffic stopping, photo flash popping, crowd cheering, hot dance stepping good time for the DPC and their growing legion of fans. Although it won’t require the squad to wake up at 4 to 5 am, like they would for a Sunday 1 pm start, certainly DPC Directors Andrea Wilamowski and Stacey Latona will have their squad ready to deal with the combination of rush hour and game traffic.
For the first home game against the Chiefs, dancers from Bay City, East Lansing, and all places in between needed to converge on Detroit by 7 am for hair and make-up. By 9 am, the Cheerleaders needed to be in uniform and ready to be on their limo bus to be at the Eastern Market tailgate by 9:30. Andrea’s husband Mark teased, “I have the World’s worst job. Do you know how hard it is to get one woman to go out somewhere? Try getting 26 rounded up at the same time, ‘Get on the bus in five minutes!’” Mark’s Lion game days have gone from season ticket holder to helping out in the day long Detroit Pride Cheerleader extravaganza, but he sees the progress, saying, “They are doing things the right way, and they are getting better. Now it is growing constantly.”
Prior to their arrival at the tailgate, the PA announcer at Eastern Market was reminding the fans that the Pride Cheerleaders soon would be there. So by the time DPC exuberantly stepped off the steps of the bus, the cheering and hooting of the fans was already at a fever pitch, and kickoff was still more than three hours away. Despite the noise, Andrea said it would only increase throughout the day, saying, “It is not even crazy yet.”
The DPC marched around the tailgate as fans were drawn in their direction like threads of metal to a moving magnet. Photos and high fives abounded, and Andrea mentioned, “It’s 80% fan interaction, 20% dancing, that’s really what it is.” But as the time arrived for the performance, the DPC’s dance set seemed to belie any notion that this squad’s dance chops should be taken as anything secondary. Rather than “a single song and they’re out of there” performance, which they certainly could get away with, the DPC performed a multi-song set with a variety of music and styles.
The Detroit Pride Cheerleaders perform at Eastern Market (click to enlarge)
But this was just the start of this extended game day. After more than an hour at Eastern Market, the DPC and their devoted and friendly staff, including security lead Manuel, were back on the bus for their next stops. The energy of dancing followed the DPC onto the bus, as they conversed en masse with exuberance. One strong voice came out of the back of the bus, “Andrea, that was the best time I have had dancing yet!”
It was sunny, but a cool-ish morning, certainly cooler than the pre-season games, and Danielle commented about the cooler temps, “This is much much better.” But despite the lack of extreme heat, the DPC had quite a workout at the first stop, and needed some touch-ups to their look, so calls of “Does anyone have hairspray?! Does anyone have perfume?” rang throughout. So rather than a rest, the Pride Cheerleaders’ bus ride was more of a chance to attend to their looks, discuss their squad’s “natural bouncy-ness” and the tape that was needed to prevent the dreaded wardrobe malfunctions, and encourage one another, especially the anxious rookies.
Erin, Danielle, and Kylee ride from the first to second stop on the morning tour
The bus stopped to split up the squad. The DPC had be asked to perform at one of the downtown casinos later that week, which is not as straightforward a request as one might think. The members that can perform at a casino have to be 21 or older, and need to have a gaming license. Therefore, a portion of the squad was dropped off at the casino to get their paperwork completed, whereas the rest continued to the next tailgates.
The remainder of the squad was dropped off at an intersection to greet tailgaters, and, at this corner, fans seemed to emerge from thin air to notice the sight of a bevy of beautiful cheerleaders being delivered right before their eyes, like some kind of fantasy portrayed in a beverage commercial. One of the Pride Cheerleaders exclaimed, “Hey, I think we stopped traffic,” and a stream of stopped cars certified the accuracy of her observation.
One of the DPC's super powers is the ability to stop traffic with a single crossing (click to enlarge)
