West Seattle Grand Parade aftermath report #1: Side notes

Now, the followup to our as-it-happened West Seattle Grand Parade coverage (which you can see here – be sure to follow the photo links!) – we’ll do this in several installments. First: We told you weeks ago that designer/barista/Project Runway star Blayne was going to be the Grand Parade Grand Marshal – but just how grand, managed to stay a secret till Parade Day. That photo’s from shortly after Blayne showed up with his “unicorn” in tow. We heard from Lora at Hotwire weeks ago that Blayne had the idea of riding a unicorn but they weren’t sure they’d find a white horse to fit the bill – they did. Blayne told us that when he showed up to check in, the parade coordinators were impressed, saying they hadn’t had a horseback rider in years. WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli caught him further down the route:

Speaking of design, from the staging area, here’s a famous car – the Illusions Hair Design (WSB sponsor) bug, promoting Pencil Me In for Kids, and the car wash at West Seattle Eagles tomorrow – that’s Heather behind the wheel:

Also photographed in the staging area where we all waited along Lander by Lafayette Elementary, the Pathfinder K-8 unicyclists:

West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival president Tim Winston and wife Carol Winston got to make two tours of the parade – after they accompanied the float, royalty and candidates, they circled back to ride in our entry, celebrating West Seattle Volunteers (they are among the first West Seattle Volunteer Recognition honorees announced at the Concert in the Park just this past Tuesday):

Honoree Beth Grieser walked with us too. Other unsung heroes of the parade include the police who keep everything orderly and watch the closed streets – but perhaps the most unique officer on view was Officer Lumpy:

He’s actually a Seafair Clown who lives in West Seattle, and is seen there checking the cab of the concrete mixer that led the clowns’ series of vehicles. Many non-clown officers were IN the parade, too, including the motorcycle drill teams from Seattle Police and Vancouver, B.C., Police – one of the latter got an offer of a cool-down shpritz about mid-route – thanks to Luckie for the photo:

Of course, our favorite parade people of all include YOU! – everybody who lined the parade route. We have loved the parade for so many years and walking in it is a real kick – great to see everybody still out there after more than two hours (we were toward the end of the lineup)

Back toward the start of the route, here’s the smoke clearing from the very first Seafair Pirates cannon blast of the parade – the crowd whooped mightily afterward:

Then back to the end of the route – after you’ve walked 2 miles or so in hot sunshine, the adrenaline can start to wear off – as it did for Junior Member of the Team, who assisted our Volunteers of West Seattle entry mightily by handing out candy to parade watchers all along the way – Christopher caught him in the home stretch:

We’re expecting word shortly of who the judges chose for Grand Parade awards – we’ll publish those in another update as soon as they’re in! P.S. Thanks to Rhonda from The Mortgage Porter (WSB sponsor) for adding tons of parade photos to the West Seattle Blog Flickr group pool – if you’re uploading parade photos to Flickr, please consider doing so too – that way we all have a HUGE pool of great pix!

13 Replies to "West Seattle Grand Parade aftermath report #1: Side notes"

  • Rhonda Porter July 18, 2009 (3:03 pm)

    Tracy, were you the pretty lady carrying the WSB sign in the parade?

    BTW I just uploaded a bunch of photos to the WSB Flickr group.

    What a beautiful day for a parade.

  • WSB July 18, 2009 (3:08 pm)

    Well .. I was the only person I know of carrying a WSB sign. So maybe that was me :)
    .
    My sign says something like West Seattle Blog is thankful for West Seattle Volunteers – You Rock. And I was wearing one of the first-ever West Seattle Blog T-shirts, which we debuted at Summer Fest :) – white embroidery on black T-shirt.
    .
    Thanks for adding to the Flickr gallery. I’ll add a link to that to all these posts. It WAS a gorgeous day – TR

  • Jeremiah July 18, 2009 (3:18 pm)

    Mike McGinn was a very nice man to chat with. I was glad to meet him.

  • rockergirl July 18, 2009 (3:35 pm)

    What an awesome day for the parade – thank you to all of the wonderful groups and volunteers who participated today. We enjoyed the parade very much and meeting all the people who came out to join in this wonderful community event. Remember you can support Hi-Yu in many ways and they need lots of volunteers and donations to keep this wonderful organization going so check out there website @ http://www.hiyu.com/

  • sam July 18, 2009 (4:16 pm)

    the parade was great !! did you wear flip flops for the full parade route? brave !

    we really enjoyed the floats, the people, the marching bands, and the drill teams. I’m still trying to figure out how anyone could do a split on hot pavement. you couldn’t pay me enough..

  • WSB July 18, 2009 (4:25 pm)

    I wear flip flops as much as possible, as many days of the year as possible. Spent my teenage years in Hawaii (where I went barefoot whenever possible) and just still can’t get used to fully covering the feet … too uncomfortable :) – TR

  • Christopher Boffoli July 18, 2009 (4:42 pm)

    My own Flickr stream of images from today’s parade:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjboffoli/sets/72157621653224972/

  • miws July 18, 2009 (5:08 pm)

    What a day!

    .

    Walked from my home, in the Thriftway block, up to Hiawatha. Passed Patrick in the Junction, who was on his way to meet up with Christopher. Lucked out when I got to Hiawatha, forgot there was a bus bench right there, where the 128 has it’s layover!

    .

    Got there probably around 9:40-9:45. A sweet Semior lady, that had come up from the Kenney, shared the bench with me for most of my time there. Enjoyed the Parade. Saw J.P. Patches, King Cashtune, and TR! Must’ve seen JMoT, just didn’t recognize him, having only seen him once, that I recall, at the Junction Tree Lighting last year, where I saw him from a distance, and he was wearing a hat. As I was leaving, to head to the Alki Car Show, I ran into a freind whom I hadn’t seen in years.

    .

    Walked on down to the Car Show, that was great too, though not as many cars as I’d expected. (Probably hadn’t been there in six years or so.) Ran into a freind there, who was showing his ’33 Dodge Bros. Had a nice visit with him and his family.

    .

    Caught the bus back up Admiral, and started to walk back down California, intending to hoof it all the way home. But, my feet were killing me, so, around Genesee St, I checked the schedule at the bus stop, and saw that the 128 was due shortly, so caught that the rest of the way home.

    .

    Mike

  • sam July 18, 2009 (5:56 pm)

    Christopher B.- your photos are beautiful !!!!!
    and based on the view, looks like you were standing right behind me for a lot of it!

  • Cheryl July 18, 2009 (8:32 pm)

    It’s been bugging me for a while that I couldn’t figure out why the ultra white haired dude @ Hotwire looked SO familiar… and now I know. Project Runway. Who knew he was a local?

    Cool photos and coverage of a local & awesome event, thanks WSB!

  • Michele July 18, 2009 (10:01 pm)

    Wow! No wonder Jr. Member of the team was tuckered out…he’s wearing all black, and a vest!

    I gotta hand it to him though, not sacrificing fashion – even if it is 90 degrees.

    :)

  • WSB July 18, 2009 (11:14 pm)

    He insists. His only regret was that he couldn’t find a tie that seemed to work. He’s been that way about classic fashion since he was about 10! Don’t know where he got it, both of us are casual to a fault.

  • miws July 19, 2009 (6:28 am)

    Typical child rebellion! ;)

    .

    Mike

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