By Susan T. Port
Daily Staff Reporter
Greenwood Street looks just like a typical block of student houses in Ann Arbor - until you look up.
Overhead are more than 50 pairs of shoes swinging from the phone and power lines that criss-cross the street.
Stringing shoes from utility wires is a phenomenon seen in towns all over the country including, Fresno, Calif.; Austin, Texas; Atlanta and Philadelphia, as well as Ann Arbor's Greenwood Street.
What's the significance of the faithfully flung footwear? No one seems to know for sure.
The practice is believed to have begun more than a decade ago when students tossed their shoes over the wires as a celebratory rite of graduation. However, current residents of Greenwood Street have their own stories about how the ritual began.
Engineering senior Chirsi DeRonne said his family tree might explain the phenomenon. DeRonne said he believes his grandfather began the tradition when he lived on Greenwood Street.
"I think my grandfather was the first one to throw up a pair of shoes," DeRonne said. "Maybe it could have begun as a celebration of victory in World War II, started by the army who threw their boots up."
Growing up during the Great Depression, Ann Arbor resident Winifred Martin thought she had seen everything. But after living in the primarily student-populated neighborhood for 25 years, the shoe-tossing tradition has left Martin puzzled.
Martin said she can't understand how the residents manage to hang up the shoes. Martin said she does not plan on throwing her shoes - even for the sake of tradition.
"I prefer to keep my shoes on my feet," Martin said. "It is a fad, one like rollerskating."
LSA junior Steve Schumacher said some students wait for graduation to take part in the ritual.
"It is a tribute to graduation," Schumacher said. "You are throwing up shoes and, in the process, leaving something behind."
However, few residents bother to wait for graduation to take part in the tradition.
DeRonne said he attempted to throw a pair earlier in the year, but failed.
"I am just going to wait for another pair of shoes to get worn out," DeRonne said. "We might be the only street to do this, because the houses are so close people need a release in tension."
Shumacher said a lot of residents throw their shoes at night.
"A lot of drunks just get wasted then they throw their shoes up there," Shumacher said.
LSA junior Elana Silversmith said although no one knows exactly how this ritual came about, most residents will hang their shoes to follow the tradition.
"I have no clue," Silversmith said. "No one really knows why. I guess I will throw up a pair when I graduate."
KRISTEN SCHAEFER/Daily
LSA senior Andrew Frisch tosses a pair of shoes, hoping they will land on the phone and power lines above Greenwood Street. It is a long-standing tradition to throw shoes over the wires as a celebratory rite of graduation, Frish said.