ASHLAND – As more than 1.3 million fans packed downtown Cleveland Wednesday to celebrate the Cavaliers’ historic championship run, many Ashlanders were among the enthusiastic throng, and at least one Ashland business actually played a part in the parade.
Kicking off around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, the parade with 60 units started in front of Quicken Loans Arena before winding its way through downtown and ending with a rally at Mall B more than three hours later.
Aber’s Towing and Crane Service had three of their trucks in the parade for floats, adding an Ashland touch to the Cleveland celebration.
 Mapleton High School graduate Justin Taylor said it was a spontaneous decision Wednesday morning for he and a friend to attend the festivities.
“We were nervous about getting up there at that time,” Taylor said after they didn’t leave until 8 a.m.
They first tried to park at the airport with the intention of riding the train into downtown. After hearing it was a three-hour wait to board the train, they decided to try an alternative. They went across town to the east side before heading into downtown on I-77. They ended up finding parking at the Great Lakes Science Center and standing at East Ninth Street and Lakeside Avenue.
“It was crazy how it all worked out. We left so late and we were still there a half hour before the parade was supposed to start. It was wild,” Taylor said.
Ashland High School teacher Brian Parsons enjoyed the day’s festivities with his son, his aunt, his cousin and her kids. After waiting nearly two hours to get on the train to downtown, Parsons and his group were on Ninth Street, just a few rows back from the parade route.
Melanie Ganim, a 1995 Ashland High School graduate, drove six hours to be part of the festivities and had a unique view of the event as she got the chance to walk in the parade.
“To just walk by all those people and see them so happy and having a good time, it was an unbelievable feeling,” Ganim said.
The large crowds created some obstacles but everyone said the crowd was well-behaved and there were no major issues.
 “It was a very calm, fun atmosphere. The excitement and energy of everybody was a really cool thing,” Taylor said.
“I think people just wanted to be part of something nice and special and cool and different,” Ganim said.
The long-term impact the win will have for the city remains to be seen but everyone agreed it was great for the city.
“I think it was something that over time, the impact of yesterday will grow. I just keep recalling moments of the day and thinking it’s amazing that you got to be a part of that first, or that energy,” Ganim said. “There’s disbelief on one side that it actually happened and thoroughly enjoying it on the other side, all together.”
“Fifty-two years, that’s a long time. Like everybody else, I was rooting for them. The whole LeBron thing coming back and helping us win a title, that was awesome,” Parsons said.
