(WSB photo from July 2009 parade)
Hours before one of the major events that American Legion Post 160 sponsors/co-sponsors each year – the Memorial Day service at Forest Lawn (WSB sponsor), 2 pm – there’s good news about another one, the West Seattle Grand Parade. Because of city budget cuts and changes, Post 160 has to pay the estimated $3,000 bill to block off California SW, as reported here in February; the parade has no entry fees, so Post 160 asked for donations to make sure the parade could go on. In April, they added a link for online donations. And this morning, Post 160’s Dave Vague sends word they have reached the goal:

You did it, West Seattle! Thanks to the sponsorships and donations by our generous West Seattle community, the West Seattle American Legion Post 160 will be hosting the 78th annual Grand Parade on Saturday, July 23, 2011, at 11:00. Thank you so very much West Seattle Blog for getting our message out, and to all of your readers for their support! We could not have done this without the generous support from the following:

*West Seattle Christian Church
*West Seattle YMCA
*Illusions Hair Design
*Ventana Construction
*Luna Park Cafe
*Ivars Inc
*PCC Natural Markets
*34th District Democrats
*Sheila Boyer
*Kiersten Lovejoy
*Jennifer Hedge
*Julie Gramm
*Dorothy H Wickland
*Explorer West Middle School
*West Seattle Blog

Thanks to all for helping to continue with this cherished community event. More news about the event will follow as we get closer to the parade date.

(The Y, Illusions, Ventana, and PCC are also WSB sponsors.) If this is your first summer in West Seattle, the parade runs from California/Lander in the Admiral District to California/Edmunds in The Junction (here’s a map). It’s preceded by the Kiddies Parade, sponsored by the Rotary Club of West Seattle.