Photo and recipe courtesy of home mixologist and Elevated Craft Crew member, Robin Seton Karides.
I grew up on the East side of Cleveland, Ohio. The only thing I knew about the West side was it had the famous West Side Market in Ohio City and the pink flamingos on lawns in Parma. As I got older, I wondered what the deal was with the plastic pink lawn ornaments being so prevalent in this one neighborhood. According to the Parma Observer: “The plastic flamingo became a staple of suburbs throughout the United States shortly after its creation in 1957, and Parma was one of many to adopt this phenomenon. Locally, the flamingos were sold at Kal’s Nursery, a staple of Ridge Road for decades, and they were even bought for “Proud of Parma” shows back in the day.” Local television personality and shock jock, Ghoulardi frequently referenced the pink bird when making fun of Parma on his late night horror movie show. Over time, what was once thought of as a joke turned into a source of pride. In 2013, Flamingo Fever began in Polish Village where businesses decorated their shops with plastic pink flamingos and artists decorate the lawn ornaments to be sold at a banquet auction. Even the local high school’s girls rugby team embraced the bird by naming themselves the Parma Pink Flamingos. In 2023, the city commissioned a seven-foot aluminum pink flamingo to be displayed next to the Parma sign as the unofficial city bird. Who’s laughing now, Ghoulardi? Cheers!
