(WSB photo from last year’s Grand Parade; Stuff the Bus, by the way, will be on 7/22 this year)
First came the warning the West Seattle Grand Parade was in danger of cancellation without sponsors/donations to cover costs including the road-closure barricades that the city used to bankroll – then came word that enough people stepped up, it looked like the parade was saved – and today, parade co-coordinator Dave Vague sends official final word it’s on for July 21st, along with thanks to donors and sponsors old and new:

Thanks to the spectacular generosity of the West Seattle and Greater Seattle communities we have donations enough to now hold the parade as scheduled on Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 11:00 AM! Inquiries and support came from all over Seattle and even as far away as Chicago.

In addition to the individual donations made by many of you we have three great organizations sponsoring the American Legion’s West Seattle Grand Parade this year:

Our returning sponsor from last year – the West Seattle Y, and two new great sponsors this year – Sound Advertising Group and International Parking Management! A huge thank you for all of your participation, we really can’t do it without you.

Along with the parade rolling forward, we can now also reveal something new this year – the Float Dodger 5K run that will take place up and down the parade route just before the parade. Clowns, pirates, princesses and now sweaty runners! What a day this will be!

We’ve mentioned the new Float Dodger 5K before – but if you haven’t signed up yet, this is a great time to go ahead and jump in – you can do it here or in person at West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor). P.S. Sound Advertising Group, if you don’t recognize the name, is the business that’s currently in The Junction’s former Petco storefront.

(WSB photo from 2011 West Seattle Grand Parade)
“Thanks, everyone, for your support of this wonderful West Seattle tradition!” says West Seattle American Legion Post 160 Grand Parade co-coordinator Jim Edwards, reporting good news today: They’re received enough sponsor pledges and community donations “to move forward with this year,” two days after putting out a last call for $ help. In addition to the barricade costs – $7,000, as previously reported – they also deal with an even-higher cost for other elements of producing the parade, including permits, trophies, and liability insurance; Jim notes, “At a time when our veteran community has grown smaller with the passage of the elder members of the American Legion, it will be wonderful to help reduce the burden on the Post.” Jim and the other volunteers who coordinate the parade are still catching up on tallying the donations and figuring out where things stand, as well as planning for the future to avoid a donation-drive panic EVERY year – so they don’t have a detailed update yet, but wanted to get this news out. Go ahead and mark your calendar for July 21st (and if you’d like to run/walk the parade route, register now for the first-ever Float Dodger 5K before the parade!).

P.S. Another reminder that one of the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day (maps here) sales this Saturday is a benefit for the parade, at Legion Post 160 – sale #140.

(WSB photo of 2011 West Seattle Grand Parade)
Organizers of the West Seattle American Legion Grand Parade – the one that thousands watch every July as dozens of floats and bands and community groups walk and roll and march down California SW – say they’ll have to cancel it if nobody steps up to contribute $3,500 so they can cover the costs. We’ve mentioned the donation drive earlier this year; here’s the latest from parade co-coordinator Dave Vague:

We want to thank everyone in the community who has donated to help put on the West Seattle parade so far this year, however, we’re still $3,500 short of the funds needed to put the parade on this year. As you know, we now are responsible for the cost of the street barricade signs and the bid has come in at $7,000, and so far we have only been able to raise half that amount. If we are unable to raise the additional money needed by June 1 we need to cancel the parade this year.

This was to be the parade’s 79th year, and as added excitement, it includes a 5K run before the start.

We are in desperate need in finding a sponsor or donor for the remaining funds by the end of May.

If anyone would like to donate or become a parade sponsor, contact Jim Edwards (wsbigband@ureach.com) or Dave Vague (vagued@comcast.net).

You can donate online via the official parade website, too. If you’ve missed our previous coverage – this is the second year the city has required groups to pay the cost of street-closure barricades; last year, the quote was about $3,000, and this year it’s up to $7,000. The parade does not charge entry fees and changing that wouldn’t help, because then they would have to pay more to get a different type of permit. If the parade doesn’t get canceled, it’s set for July 21st.

ADDED TUESDAY MORNING: Forgot to note that one of the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day sales this Saturday is a benefit for the parade – it’s sale #140 on the map, at parade-presenting American Legion Post 160, 3618 SW Alaska in The Triangle.

(WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli from 2010 West Seattle Grand Parade)
An update to our story from last month about the West Seattle Grand Parade seeking your help again this year: Parade coordinators now have the price estimate for the signs that the city no longer provides, and it’s almost double last year’s cost! This is the second year the city has required event presenters to pick up these costs, and without $ help, the parade is in jeopardy. Here’s the update from parade co-coordinator Dave Vague:

The 79th Annual West Seattle American Legion Grand Parade is in need of community support to happen this year. The parade is currently scheduled for Saturday, July 21, at 11:00 AM. However, to run the parade, we are in desperate need to raise funds. Our largest expense started last year when the Seattle DOT required us to fund the cost of our own No Parking barricade signs. The initial bid last year was $3,000 and ended up being about $3,700. The bid we have secured for 2012 for the same signs as jumped to $7,000!

One of our sponsors from last year has agreed to fund a similar amount this year, which means we still need to raise $5,000 in the next four months. If you would like to donate or sponsor the parade this year we can use your help.

Donations can be made at the West Seattle American Legion Grand Parade website:
thewestseattleparade.com/Donate.html.

Or you can contact the West Seattle American Legion Post 160 directly at (206) 935-9407.

For more information, please contact Dave Vague vagued@comcast.net or Jim Edwards wsbigband@ureach.com.

As noted in previous reports, the parade cannot charge entry fees, or else it will have to pay an even-higher fee to the city for its permits. As do many local businesses, WSB supports many community events, so we’ve just chipped in again for this one. Whether you can give $10 or $1,000, we challenge you to join in too.

Before you can see pirates and floats and royalty and classic cars and community groups strolling and rolling down the West Seattle Grand Parade route in midsummer, it takes a lot of work by West Seattle’s American Legion Post 160 parade coordinators – andm again this year, it’s going to take some monetary help from the community.

You might recall that last year was the first year that the city required organizations like Post 160 to cover the costs of no-parking signage along the parade route. It’s not cheap. This year, they’ll have to do it again. So Dave Vague asked us to share the request for your help:

The West Seattle American Legion Grand Parade is set for Saturday, July 21, 2012. Like last year, we are needing to turn to the West Seattle community to raise funds to help us put the parade on. We are trying to raise $5,000 this year to cover the expenses of putting up the street barricades, city permits, and trophies for the winning entries.

Donations can be sent to:
West Seattle American Legion Post 160
3618 SW Alaska St
Seattle, WA 98126
(206) 935-9407
or you can donate online at the parade website: thewestseattleparade.com

The parade doesn’t charge entry fees – if it did, it would have to pay a much higher price for permits, which would wipe out any benefit and any way of making a dent in this cost. They secured some community sponsorships last year, but individual donations also can make quite a difference in keeping this decades-old tradition alive. (The online-donation link goes to a page with a PayPal button; you can use PayPal without having a PP account – just scroll till you see the “pay with credit card” option.)

From motorcycles at the start to DeLoreans at the end – a last-minute entry by the Pacific Northwest DeLorean Club (which won an award!) – Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade showcased a wide variety of vehicles. Though we published plenty of parade coverage yesterday, before/during/after, we still have a few roundups in the works, and this is one of them – click ahead for some of the vehicular highlights!

Most memorable motorcycle of the parade: Parade-presenting American Legion Post 160 Commander Chris Shea rode one with a sidecar, instead of the more-traditional convertible. He was outnumbered, of course, by the parade’s two police-motorcycle drill teams – the hometown Seattle Police:

And the team you seldom see in other local parades, the Vancouver (B.C.) Police:

We can guarantee you the only tractor in the parade was the one in the Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor) entry:

Another WSB sponsor, Hotwire Online Coffeehouse, entered its Cooper Mini in the parade – with its own ad-hoc royalty and pirate – Princess Zoe and Pirate Roan:

Some vehicles were towed instead of driven – like the ones showcased by the multi-truck Hadlock’s Towing entry toward the end of the parade:

West Seattle Food Bank board member Pete Spalding was at the wheel of the WS Food Bank van, which you probably see often, making the rounds of local stores that donate surplus food, and other errands that help fight hunger in our community:

Human-powered vehicles were abundant, too. We’ve already shown you the award-winning Sustainable West Seattle “Trikeceratops” entry a few times – human-powered also included many of the pulled/pushed/pedaled West Seattle Rotary Kiddie Parade participants, like these:

(Photo courtesy Christopher Bell)
Still to come – a couple more roundups, including one with all our coverage links plus video of the parade in its entirety.

If you watched Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade from north of Genesee, you missed out on the freeform fun of the WS Rotary Kiddie Parade, which invites any and all local kids to travel the three blocks south of Edmunds, between the motorcycle drill teams and the rest of the parade. Kids walk, bike, ride in wagons and strollers, and even perform – the Denny International Middle School Marching Band is part of it – here’s our video of the Kiddie Parade in its entirety, recorded at California/Alaska:

Leading the parade and carrying the flag was Sue Lindblom, West Seattle Rotary president and owner of longtime WSB sponsor Illusions Hair Design.

While it’s not the “Hi-Yu Parade” any more, it wouldn’t be the West Seattle Grand Parade without the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival float and volunteers. West Seattle is the last neighborhood in the city with a community float, and every year, Hi-Yu chooses a new theme for its float and button (always open to public suggestions, so watch for the announcement here and on the Hi-Yu Facebook page in wintertime!). This year, it’s “Sparkling Seattle.” The current Junior and Senior Courts rode on the float in today’s parade, while the newly coronated Junior Court whose reign starts this fall carried another Hi-Yu banner in the West Seattle Rotary Kiddie Parade:

(From left, the incoming Junior Court’s Princess Elena, Queen Thea, and Princess Amanda.) Along the parade sidelines, HI-Yu volunteers sold buttons as a fundraiser as usual, and Hi-Yu president Tim Winston wanted to share these words of appreciation:

Hi-Yu is very appreciative of all the people who bought Hi-Yu buttons and pins today along the parade route and, for that matter, all the people who purchased buttons and pins earlier in the month at Pirates Landing, Summer Fest, Concert in the Park, etc.. We thank all for their support! Proceeds help both the Scholarship and Float Programs. The Festival does not happen without the support of our community. Thank you so much!

West Seattle American Legion Post 160 Grand Parade organizers have just sent the list of winning entries from the nearly 80 in this year’s parade – including, in its parade debut, the Sustainable West Seattle solar/human-powered Trikeceratops winning the “Community” category! Parade organizers also are thanking sponsors West Seattle Christian Church and West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) and other donors (listed here, including WSB). Co-coordinator Dave Vague says, “It appeared we had one of the most well-attended parades in years.” And the winners are:

Overall Winners

1st – Seattle Schools All-City Marching Band (video above, as they entered the parade route)
2nd – Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish & School
3rd – Marysville Strawberry Festival Float

Floats

Legion Trophy – Marysville Strawberry Festival, MaryFest, Inc. “Berrywood” (video above)

Alki Trophy – Sequim Irrigation Festival (video above)
Judges Trophy – Puyallup Daffodil Festival “Spirit of Adventure”
Festival Trophy – Port Orchard “Fathoms of Fun”

Community

1st – Sustainable West Seattle (see top photo)

2nd – Hope Lutheran Gospel Outreach (photo above)

3rd -Cub Scout Troops of West Seattle (video above)

Performing Acts

(Pirate photo courtesy of Byron, principal of Textura Design & publisher of Bike Hugger)
1st – Seattle Seafair Pirates
2nd – Lake City Vigilantes
3rd – Evergreen Tang Soo Do Academy

Clowns/Comics

1st – Seattle Seafair Clowns
2nd – Keystone Kops
3rd – West Seattle Shrine Club Clowns

Marching Bands

1st – Calgary Round-Up Band (video above)
2nd – Kennedy Catholic High School Band
3rd – Pacific Northwest Drum Line

Commercial

1st – Luna Park Café
2nd – Seattle Public Utilities
3rd – Hadlock Towing

Cars & Antique Cars

1st – Last Resort Fire Department
2nd – Pacific Northwest DeLorean Club
3rd – Seattle Lutheran Schools

Drill Teams – Jr

1st – Baby Dangerettes Drill Team
2nd – “Jr. Electronetts” Babynetts Drill Team
3rd – Emerald City Divas Drill Team

Drill Teams – Sr

1st – Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team (video above)
2nd – Sweet Mahogany Drill Team
3rd – Electronetts Drill Team & Drum Squad

We’ll be adding more images to this – and we have more post-parade reports to come – including spontaneous sights along the way.

10:47 AM: The West Seattle Grand Parade has just officially begun with the motorcycle drill teams – Seattle Police first, followed by Vancouver (BC). Just so you know – it’s on – hundreds of people volunteering their time to put on a rolling show! California/Lander to California/Edmunds (with the Rotary Kiddies Parade leaving California/Genesee ahead of the motorcyclists’ arrival – photo added below, Rotary president Sue Lindblom leading the Kiddies’ Parade):

11:23 AM: And the rest of the parade has now begun.

(First Seafair Pirates cannon shot of the parade!)
12:44 PM: It ended a few minutes ago at the north end of the route – with the Pacific Northwest DeLorean Club!

The parade is still continuing, of course, down toward The Junction. This end is about to reopen to traffic, police are announcing via loudspeaker, but avoid California for a while on the south end of the parade route, to SW Dawson, since that’s where floats and other entries are breaking down and regrouping. Miss the parade? Check our Twitter feed for as-it-happened photos (we’re adding a few to this) – and we’ll have other reports later with highlights, video, and more. (We’ll also be heading off to the Alki Art Fair!)

9:31 AM: We’re in the heart of the West Seattle Grand Parade staging zone on California by Lafayette Elementary – and as a Seafair Commodore noted, it’s very different this year, without the old Safeway lots for staging. The big floats are here already – that’s the sparkling purple Sequim Irrigation Festival float. Not far away, the Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor) parade entry:

Watch its front end in the parade – it includes a plug for their Facebook page! The Hi-Yu “Sparkling Seattle” float is of course here too:

Meantime, we checked the scene along the route, as we headed north:

Chairs are out in many places, especially The Junction. California is closed from Hanford to Admiral; the rest of the stretch will be closed shortly. We spotted parade co-coordinator Jim Edwards on a quick motorcycle run to inspect the route (looks like most were heeding the NO PARKING signs – remember, this is the first year American Legion Post 160, which puts on the parade, had to foot the bill itself, and luckily some community sponsors came forward – look for the banners in their honor during the parade).

Back here at the north end of the route, it’s time for some to rehearse, like All-City Band members on the field by Hiawatha:

And we spotted parade Grand Marshals Art and Gloria Peters arriving:

ADDED 10 AM: More photos as the staging zone really starts to fill up – here’s Art with Lts. Pierre Davis and Ron Smith from the Southwest Precinct:

Courtesy of Our Lady of Guadalupe – you’ll be seeing stars!

On the side streets: Here’s how you get a tow truck ready to bring up the rear in the parade:

And here’s an entry that won’t need towing – solar- and human-powered, from Sustainable West Seattle:

Again, the parade runs along California from Lander (Lafayette/Admiral Safeway/Hiawatha) to Edmunds (south end of The Junction – Terrible Beauty/7-11), officially starting at 11 (but the motorcycle drill teams will get going a bit earlier) – get your seat if you want to see it in person!

ADDED 10:39 AM: One last round of preview photos before the parade starts shortly – first, Orville Rummel Trophy winner Cindi Barker with her mate Ron Zuber, who’s riding in a separate convertible as the new Commander of the West Seattle VFW Post:

And leading off the parade as always will be the two motorcycle drill teams – here are the visitors from Vancouver, for whom this is their only local parade appearance:

We’ll post a separate update when the parade starts – just in case you’re waiting, or else wondering when it’s under way because you need to get around town – then complete coverage, with video, afterward.

Less than twelve hours till the West Seattle Grand Parade, presented by American Legion Post 160, and tonight we’ve heard from two of the new participants – Above, Patrick from Sustainable West Seattle shared a shot of SWS and Alki Bike and Board crews “putting the finishing touches on Trikeceratops, our human & solar powered float for the Grand Parade.” And Debbie Stern e-mailed to say her daughter Becca Stern, a student at Madison Middle School, is “so excited to get to march in front of her home town”:

Becca (center, in red poncho) is captain of the Li’l Señoritas, the younger squad affiliated with La Señoritas, drill teams that are marching in the West Seattle Grand Parade for the first time. (Debbie notes that unlike La Señoritas, Li’l Señoritas do NOT have sabers!)

If you missed our earlier parade previews – scroll down this page for our entire (newest-to-oldest) WS Grand Parade coverage archive; the parade starts at 11 am from California/Lander and proceeds southbound on California to Edmunds at the south end of The Junction. The road closes a couple hours ahead of time, and side streets in the Admiral area on both sides of California are staging areas, so note that even if you are not going to see the parade, cars and buses will be affected till early afternoon. We’ll be out in the staging areas with advance coverage here on WSB tomorrow morning, and of course full coverage afterward.

P.S. Two more notes – we’re reminded that the motorcycle drill teams roll as early as 10:30, so don’t wait till the last minute to get your parade spot along California. Plus, the Kiddie Parade from Calif/Genesee gathers at 10, and if you’re anywhere near there, $3 gets you a hot dog or veggie dog from Furry Faces Foundation‘s Dogs 4 Cats at Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor, and parade participant, 4410 California SW), 11 am-1 pm.

(2009 WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
At this time tomorrow, 77 entries will be getting into place for the 2011 edition of the West Seattle Grand Parade, presented by American Legion Post 160. The post’s Junction headquarters are where parade coordinators gather to rough out the lineup – we sat in on that meeting this past Monday night. But after two hours of intensive discussion – with parade co-coordinator Dave Vague using his Father’s Day gift iPad, and parade co-coordinator Jim Edwards checking a table full of the actual entries, while Doreen Vague handled logistics regarding judging – the final plan still had some tweaking to be done, before one last meeting last night. The lineup includes:

*2 motorcycle drill teams (this is the only local parade where you see the Vancouver, B.C. team too – they’re in the top photo)
*More than half a dozen floats, including West Seattle Hi-Yu‘s “Sparkling Seattle” and visitors from as far away as the Sequim Irrigation Festival float
*4 marching bands, including the famous Calgary Roundup Band, back for the first time in a few years
*More than half a dozen drill teams, including the saber-wielding Las Senoritas
*Community entries including a few new ones, such as Sustainable West Seattle, and longtime participants including schools, churches, Scouts, community groups
*Commercial entries including Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor)
*The full Seafair contingent, including their new (as of last year) float and, of course, the Pirates
*As announced here earlier: 2011 Grand Marshals Art and Gloria Peters, and 2011 Orville Rummel Trophy winner Cindi Barker

The parade starts at 11 am Saturday from California/Lander and travels down California till the route ends at Edmunds on the south end of The Junction (here’s the map on the parade’s official website). Side streets along California at the north end of the route are part of the staging area, so in the early morning hours tomorrow, you’re going to want to steer clear of there. Kids are invited to join in the West Seattle Rotary Kiddie Parade gathering at 10 am at California/Genesee (more here). And remember, the parade’s not over till you see the tow trucks! (They’re entry #77.)

Tonight, you’ll find Cindi Barker at the quarterly meeting of the Morgan Community Association, in her role as information coordinator. Like many leadership positions in neighborhood councils, it’s an unsung-hero role – no glamour, no glory, no pay, lots of hard work. But last night, as much as she shies from the limelight anyway, Cindi was in it for a brief moment at intermission of the West Seattle Hi-Yu Concert in the Park, as West Seattle Grand Parade co-coordinator Dave Vague (above left) presented her with the Orville Rummel Trophy for Outstanding Service to the Community, which she’ll carry in Saturday’s parade:

We wrote about the award’s history last year, after WSB was announced as its 2010 recipient. Parade-hosting American Legion Post 160 has presented it each year since 1984, a half-century after its namesake, then-Post Commander Orville Rummel, founded in 1934 what was originally called the Hi-Yu Parade.

Cindi works as a manager in Boeing’s 777 program, and spends copious hours of her “free time” in community volunteer work. Perhaps her most visible current role is with West Seattle Be Prepared, the groundbreaking neighborhood-preparedness effort that for the past three-plus years has set the bar for other parts of the city, setting up volunteer-led “neighborhood hubs” that will help coordinate communication and calls for help if the unthinkable ever happens. Below, Cindi is at left with Sharonn Meeks during a “hub” drill last fall:

Cindi’s history as a volunteer in community service goes back more than a quarter-century, including advisory committees such as the citywide Parks Levy Oversight Committee and the local Southwest Precinct Advisory Committee, neighborhood-planning roles with the City Neighborhood Council as well as MoCA – a long list of committees and roles with detail-oriented work whose results will last for years – the roll-up-your-sleeves-and-dig-into-the-details work that is particularly unglamorous, since you can’t point to a specific project and say “I did that!” (not that Cindi would anyway). She also has worked with youth, mentoring the Robotics Club at Chief Sealth International High School for several years. And she helped found Boeing Women in Leadership almost a decade ago.

After she accepted the award last night, we asked for her reaction. “Very cool!” she said – then quickly adding, “Nothing happens without everyone else” – in other words, no matter what you’re coordinating or leading, you can’t do it unless there are others to pitch in. Exactly what you would expect to hear from Cindi, whom we first met when WSB began to focus on community news more than four years ago. She’s practical but also resolutely cheery, no matter how tough the task. So look for her winning smile toward the start of the parade route (California SW from Lander to Edmunds) on Saturday morning, starting at 11 am, and give her a cheer. The unsung heroes have so few chances to receive one. She’s been in the parade before – appropriately enough, with an entry honoring volunteers.

After the jump – the full list of Orville Rummel Trophy winners, from 1984 through Cindi:

1984: Charles and Ann Gage
1985: RB Chris Crisler Jr.
1986: Morgan and Carol McBride
1987: Margaret Miaullis
1988: Charles Jung
1989: Aurlo Bonney
1990: Katie Thorburn
1991: Dorothy Poplawski
1992: Dan Wiseman
1993: Virgil Sheppard
1994: Dorene Smith
1995: Doris Richards
1996: John Kelly
1997: Dick Kennedy
1998: Jim Edwards and Barbara Edwards
1999: Lt. David E. Cass
2000: Husky Deli/Miller Family
2001: Stephanie Haskins
2002: Forest Lawn
2003: Sue Lindblom
2004: Edgar and Ann Phipps
2005: Karen Sisson
2006: Walt DeLong
2007: David and Doreen Vague
2008: Tim St. Clair
2009: Morey Skaret
2010: West Seattle Blog
2011: Cindi Barker