PARMA, Ohio — The City of Parma is painting the town pink today, as residents celebrate the city’s bicentennial and embrace the community’s beloved pink flamingo mascot during “Parma Pink Day.”
The city is encouraging residents, businesses and visitors to wear pink, display pink flamingo lawn ornaments and light up homes and storefronts in shades of pink to showcase their Parma pride.
“It’s hard to make fun of us when we are in on the joke, right?” said Carolyn Kovach, spokesperson for the City of Parma. “We are embracing the flamingo. It’s no longer a joke. It’s a symbol of Parma pride.”
June 23 has officially been designated as Parma Pink Day as part of the city’s yearlong bicentennial celebration.
The iconic pink flamingo has become synonymous with Parma over the decades, evolving from a lawn ornament into an unofficial symbol of community pride.
The city has fully embraced the mascot in recent years, including installing two large flamingo statues and officially naming the pink flamingo Parma’s mascot through a City Council resolution passed last year.
City Hall and the Parma script sign will be illuminated in pink to honor the big day.
Organizers also received approval to light Cleveland’s Terminal Tower in pink in honor of the celebration.
Officials say the quirky mascot has become a symbol for residents and reflects the strong sense of community that has defined Parma for 200 years.
“It’s a very tight community,” Kovach said. “There’s a lot of pride and the bicentennial gives us an opportunity to really showcase that pride.”
Kovach also says the city continues to attract new residents and young families.
“It’s exciting to see that we are seeing a lot of young families moving in or people that are just buying their first home because it’s affordable, but it’s also safe, beautiful, neighborly and there is easy access to downtown,” Kovach said.
The celebration comes just ahead of Parma’s annual Fourth of July Parade, which begins at 10 a.m. on July 4.
The parade will step off at Ridge and Snow roads, travel south on Ridge Road and finish near the Parma Event Center and Ridgewood Golf Course clubhouse.
This year’s grand marshal will be WWE superstar and reality television personality Mike Mizanin, a Parma native better known as “The Miz.”
As for the flamingo’s roots in Parma, city leaders point to the lawn ornament's popularity in the 1950s and 1960s.
A local nursery on Ridge Road sold the decorations, and as Parma’s population boomed, the bright pink birds became a common decoration in neighborhoods across the city.
Residents participating in the celebration are encouraged to share photos on social media using the hashtag #ParmaPinkDay.
