1000 Fan Thank You Update

First of all, we want to thank every single one of you who have followed us and grown with us through our first 5 months of existence. Mummers Life was founded back in October, 2012 and we have already broken the 1000 fan barrier. We are truly honored to have every one of you in our corner supporting and and spreading the mummer spirit! We want to take a little time with this blog to reiterate and refresh the ideals that Mummers Life was founded upon. Mummers Life prides itself on being built on the many of the same foundational principles of the Parade.

1. Family: Here at Mummers Life, Family is #1. Personally, parade day means gathering with extended family members who we might not see all year long. It means strutting Broad by your cousins side and putting the biggest smile on you old man's face. It means sipping some good beverages, toasting to a happy new year, and a healthy limitless year to come. Parade day means flying in from thousands of miles away to see your family make the trek to City Hall no matter how cold Philadelphia is on January 1st. Parade day means being surrounded by thousands of your fellow brothers and sisters who make up every club.

2. Commitment: Mummers Life is extending this word to every fan we have. The tradition and commitment of the mummers does not have to end with just those in the parade. The mummers stay committed to the tradition year round by making suits, building props, playing gigs, running fundraisers, and going to weekly meetings. Why should it end with just those IN the parade?? That's where we come in. Mummers Life is committed to keeping the word, tradition, and spirit of the parade alive all year round and spreading it to those who might not be personally involved with a club. Commitment is having the flu until 4:30am New Years Eve, getting up at 7:30am and slinging on a dress and some golden slippers with tears in your eyes as you hit the home stretch for William Penn.

3. Friends: Mummers Life is all about making friends. What have we done in 5 months? We have made over 1,000 new friends and joined up with Mummers Against Cancer!!! Yes, we are all friends now. We want YOU to send us your pictures, send us your favorite mummer memory, tell us a story. Don't be shy! Your mummer friends want to read about it! We are unbelievably thankful for every friend we have made thus far and our expectations continue to rise.We are YOUR window to the parade outside of parade day. We want everyone to stay involved through our contests and posts. If more people would spread these posts, we can double our fan base easily. Show your commitment, show all of your friends what we do!

4. The Crowd: Mummers Life knows why we do what we all do. Yes, family and tradition tops the list. However, it's those butterflies that each and every one of us gets in our stomachs as we approach the judges stand. It's the smiles and joy that we all bring to the spectators lining the streets. It's posing for endless pictures, smearing some makeup, getting a New Years kiss, pumping your umbrella until it snaps into pieces. It's the roar of the crowd and the feeling we all get knowing that WE are why the crowd has shown up. Mummers Life wants to help build this crowd even more!! If every single fan we have can continue to spread our passion, we CAN increase our crowds.

5. Charity: Mummers Life wants to give proceeds gained from our gear sales to Mummers Against Cancer and the Mummers Museum. Anyone can go to our eBay page and purchase bracelets, and bumper stickers. We will be getting t-shirts shortly. Also, mark your calendars for April 27th at 8pm for Mummers Vs Cancer at Sugar House Casino. Mummers Life is teamed up with Mummers Against Cancer for their annual benefit for donations to the American Cancer society. Mummers Life wants to help in a big way, so please check out the eBay store and help us out!

SHOP:OUR EBAY STORE!!!

FIGHT CANCER: MUMMERS VS CANCER EVENT INVITE!!

-Ed K. 25 year old Mummer.
"I won't let this parade die before I do"

State of The Mummers Life 2013

Ok everybody now that 2013 is well underway this would be a great time to address all of our hopes and expectations for this year. Mummers Life was started up in October 2012 and is still gaining more and more fans every day! It appears to be the fastest growing Philadelphia Mummers related community page on Facebook. 2013 will be a huge year for Mummers Life, and hopefully an even bigger year for the city. The parade itself this year seemed to be successful despite the chilly weather. We were very glad to see such a good turn out, full bleachers, and a lively crowd surrounding city hall and the judges stands. 2013 had already kicked off to an exciting start for us and we are beyond excited for what lies ahead. Here's a listing of what we have to look forward to:

-We have begun teaming up with the Mummers vs Cancer Team to help with promoting their events and aiding in fundraising attempts. The goal this year is $10,000+

-Join us on April 27th at Sugar House Casino for the Mummers vs Cancer annual benefit. This event is ages 21+ and for only $25 you will have a great night of fun, food, and music with fellow mummers and great people. There will also be an auction for numerous donated items, and also Mummers Life merchandise for sale!

-Mummers Life will be releasing new merchandise within the next few months that will be available for purchase via our eBay store. New items include: t-shirts, bracelets, and stickers. Proceeds from each purchase will go to Save the Mummers/Mummers Museum.

Stay tuned for more, thanks for reading!! Follow us on Twitter, add us on Facebook!!!

-Ed Kelleher, THE Mummers Life

I don't get it...

How many of us have heard that before when trying to explain the parade to an outsider? Seriously. The Mummers Parade might be one of the oddest things to describe to someone unfamiliar to the tradition. I personally go in the parade as a wench since I have no musical talent what so ever. When I try and explain it or show my friends pictures of myself in a dress and face paint, well, they're not exactly sure what to think. Describing a wench suit gets me quite the interesting array of funny looks. The problem with the parade in my opinion is truly that people don't get it. They don't get why we dress in what we dress, why we do the strut, or go in the parade at all. My response to anyone who "doesn't get it" is that they have to EXPERIENCE the parade. Either go and watch it and feel the energy or hop in with a group and feel like a real celebrity for the day! It's not your average giant balloon, marching band, cheerleader, Macy's type parade. The Mummers Parade is one of the MOST UNIQUE parades on the planet and Philly needs to own it with more pride than it currently does. It is by far the most fun I have at any given time all year long. Outsiders might not get why we do it, but I do it for tradition, the love of the parade, and the way only the Mummers Parade can bring parts of my family together from across the country. Literally.

-Ed Kelleher, professional Mummer
VISIT MUMMERS LIFE ON FACEBOOK!

What is Mummers Life anyway?

Hello everybody!! Welcome to the new blog featuring everything Philadelphia Mummers related. I figured I would start off my first blog by introducing myself and exactly what Mummers Life really is. My name is Ed Kelleher and I am the founder of Mummers Life. What exactly is Mummers Life you might ask? Well, Mummers Life, is based on the mind set that the Philadelphia Mummers tradition need to carry throughout the entire year instead of just New Years Day. Mummers Life is a community built to unite mummers of all kinds, mummer enthusiasts, families, friends, neighbors, cities, states, and even the entire COUNTRY! As a community we can help promote Philadelphia's oldest tradition, build a larger audience, and spread the spirit of the Mummers WORLDWIDE. Yes, the parade only takes place in Philly but we can make it bigger! Mummers Life can make this happen. There is no reason why people should EVER ask "what's the mummers parade?" ever again!! I personally have no idea why one of the nation's oldest and possibly greatest traditions get swept under the carpet 364 days of the year. Let's be honest, even the city itself tries to deny its existence much of the year. We don't need prizes or money, all we need is a HUGE crowd every year as we strut our stuff and see those smiling face on Broad!! Mummers Life baby!!!! It's what we do, it's who we are, it's what we think about all year round....so why shouldn't we let spread that passion to everyone around us?

-Ed Kelleher, professional mummer.
-facebook.com/mummerslife