By LINDA CHION KENNEY
The patriotic pride that brought Hillsborough County communities together at the Greater Brandon Fourth of July Parade was not lost upon participants with ties to Riverview and beyond.
Count among them the owners and riders of 22 Polaris Slingshots, who added glitz, color and pizzazz to the Brandon parade, which generally is believed to have debuted 67 years ago. They joined in a field of 56 entrants, including Riverview Memorial VFW Post 8108 and the Florida Military Vehicle Group.
“Every time we go to a community event like this, it seems like everybody wants to drive a Slingshot,” said Dwayne Aikens of Riverview, a retired U.S. Navy veteran, who founded the club in 2017.
Doris Salicrup poses with her Slingshot in formation with the Slingshots of Tampa Bay.
“I love it, love it, love it, love it,” added board member Milton Lilly, looking back over the long line of Slingshots waiting in formation before the start of the Independence Day parade. “We’re more than a club. This is a family.”
And much like the families lining the streets to view the parade, Slingshot drivers rejoiced in the freedom being celebrated, as they luxuriated in the freedom of the ride from an open-air perspective.
The Polaris Slingshot is billed as “a three-wheeled vehicle featuring a steering wheel rather than handlebars, with side-by-side seats for driver and passenger with seatbelts, but no airbags.” The “autocycle” safety features include “bars on the side and a rectangular piece above your head, which is designed to keep you head from hitting the ground if you roll over,” Lilly said. Moreover, “like you see in an Indy race car, the seat is belted inside the roller cage.”
As for what it’s like driving a Slingshot, “It makes you feel like freedom,” said club member Doris Salicrup of Zephyrhills. “It’s so much fun. And it’s so good being part of this nation. I’m from Puerto Rico, and I feel so good living today here.”
Relishing also pride of nation and enduring freedom were the “River Rats,” out of Riverview Memorial VFW Post 8108, at 7504 Riverview Drive, between U.S. highways 41 and 301.
Eric Bennett of Riverview decorated his Slingshot, the “Big Easy,” which he said looks like a Batmobile.
“As yesterday’s defenders of freedom, we want to welcome today’s military service members into our ranks to become part of our elite group,” reads the website for the post, which reportedly has 350 members and was chartered April 7, 1994. “Our common bond is the battlefield, whether it is service in the Persian Gulf, Korea, Kosovo, the war on terrorism or peace-keeping expeditionary campaigns. Your courage and sacrifice have made a difference in preserving and defending world peace.”
What no one should forget is the history mission behind the nonprofit Florida Military Vehicle Group, based in Gibsonton, which also participated in this year’s parade. Among its efforts, the group works with living history reenactments and events that use historical tools, vehicles, dress and artifacts to give participants and observers a step back in time.
Founded in 2022 by Doug Suzukovich president; Michael Zulkoski, vice president Verne Jenkinson, treasurer; Dave Thomas, senior advisor; and Alvin Hughes, East Coast coordinator; the group reportedly has members in Florida, Alabama, Georgia and several countries in Europe, mainly in England and the Czech Republic.
Linda Chion Photo
One of four vehicles in the Florida Military Vehicle Group unit at the Greater Brandon Fourth of July Parade
“Between the five of us we’ve been involved in community activities for more than 40 years,” Suzukovich said. “Dave, Alvin and I are on the vehicle owner side of the house, and Mike and Verne are on the reenactment side.”
Suzukovich said there were four military vehicles at the Brandon parade, including a 1944 World War II jeep and a 1986 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMV), first used by the U.S. Army in 1985. Also in the parade were a Mercedes/Steyr Puch G Wagon, used by the Swiss Army, and an OH-58 Kiowa U.S. Army reconnaissance helicopter.
The group this year in Florida participated in a variety of patriotic events, including a display at the America Victory Ship and Museum in Tampa and parades in Seminole and Marion counties.
“You’ve got to be in a parade to really understand what if feels like,” Suzukovich said, noting “the smiles on peoples’ faces, the kids’ reactions, the waving of flags and the community showing its pride in our country.”
Especially moving are the veterans from other parade units who drop by during staging to take a closer look at the nonprofit’s parade vehicles. “They’ll sit in our vehicles and start talking about their experiences on the battlefield,” Suzukovich said.
Parade awards, determined by a panel of three judges, were to be presented July 16 at New Hope Church in Brandon. The Slingshots last year got “Best in Show.”
Win or lose, the parade itself was reward enough for Eric Bennett of Riverview, Slingshot board member, who said his love of the autocycle dates back to his childhood passion for playing with toy cars, trucks, motorcycles and fire trucks.
Bennett said he moved to Florida from Philadelphia because he wanted to ride his Slingshot 24/7, a vehicle that he, as a Harley-Davidson motorcycle aficionado, did not much care for when it debuted in 2015.
Linda Chion Kenney Photos
In view at the Greater Brandon Fourth of July Parade is this unit from Riverview Memorial VFW Post 8108.
But something caught his eye.
“I saw a customized Slingshot, and I was won over because I saw a vision of how I would customize my own,” Bennett said. “I thought, ‘You know what, let me give this a try. Let me put some fancy wheels on it.’ I put some red on it, and it almost looks like the Batmobile.”
He calls his black-and-red Slingshot the “Big Easy,” in line with Slingshots customized with eye-popping colors, adornments, tires, graphics and, for the parade, an assortment of American flags.
“People are intrigued by it,” Bennett said. “It’s along the lines of a Lamborghini. I cannot afford the $500,000 Lamborghini, but I can afford the Slingshot, and it gets the same looks.”