Among our visitors at the West Seattle Summer Fest Info Booth today – Seafair Clowns, perhaps doing a little scouting for next Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade. At 11 am on July 20, the parade starts rolling south on California SW from SW Lander in Admiral to SW Edmunds in The Junction. Come early and watch the Float Dodger 5K along the parade route starting at 9:30 (or better yet, run/walk in it). The clowns are among dozens of groups, organizations, schools, and others that you’ll see in the parade, celebrating its 90th anniversary this year! As we’ve reported, the state championship-winning West Seattle High School baseball team will be grand marshals, and the Orville Rummel Trophy for Outstanding Service to the Community – another honor that gets you a ride toward the start of the parade – goes this year to Bianca Thomka and Neil Duncan. We’ll have more parade previews in the week ahead.

Just ten days until this year’s West Seattle Grand Parade! We’ve already reported on the news that West Seattle High School‘s state championship baseball team being chosen as Grand Marshals; today, parade coordinator Michelle Edwards announced the parade’s other major honorees:

The 2024 West Seattle Grand Parade honorees for the Orville Rummel Trophy for Outstanding Service to the Community are Neil Duncan and Bianca Thomka! Neil and Bianca are this year’s honorees due to their significant contributions to the West Seattle community.

Neil’s expansive IT skills have been instrumental in ensuring the smooth operation of multiple local organizations, including the West Seattle Chamber, The Center for Active Living (formerly known as the Senior Center of West Seattle) and the West Seattle Junction Association, where he has donated well over 100 hours to set up communications infrastructure. Bianca excels in organizing events with remarkable efficiency and cooking for community events. She has been volunteering for over eight years in the kitchen of The Center for Active Living. Every Wednesday, Bianca helps the Chef get hot lunches ready for 100 community seniors. She also assists the Chef during large Rainbow Bingo fundraising events and monthly birthday luncheons.

Together, their dedication and expertise have significantly enriched West Seattle, making them the ideal candidates for the Orville Rummel Trophy!

You can cheer Neil and Bianca, and the hundreds of other people who will be participating in the parade, celebrating its 90th anniversary on Saturday, July 20th – it starts at 11 am, southbound on California from Lander to Edmunds.

ABOUT THE ORVILLE RUMMEL TROPHY: It’s named after the man who founded the West Seattle parade in 1934, Orville Rummel – lots of background in the story we published the year we were honored with the trophy, 2010. The award was first presented in 1984. Here’s the full list of recipients along the way (no parade 2020-2021 because of the pandemic, so no award recipient):

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
2012: Shirley Vradenburgh
2013: Judy Pickens
2014: Earl Cruzen
2015: Donn Weaver
2016: Clay Eals
2017: Keith Hughes
2018: Velko Vitalich
2019: Adah Cruzen
2022: Deb Barker
2023: Erik Bell

Today’s West Seattle Grand Parade was much more than floats and boats and bands – hundreds of people were part of it. That included honorees, like Grand Marshal Whitney Moore, executive director of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, above, and Orville Rummel Trophy for Outstanding Community Service recipient Erik Bell, founder of A Cleaner Alki, below:

Accompanying his company’s entry was Gary Potter of Potter Construction (longtime WSB sponsor), whose “Our New Home” banner celebrated their recent headquarters move (the Potter truck started the parade blasting the Starship classic “We Built This City”):

And with voting under way for the August 1st primary election, no surprise that eight candidates were represented in the parade, including four of the eight running for the open City Council District 1 seat – Maren Costa:

Mia Jacobson:

Phil Tavel (with The Bubbleman)

Rob Saka walked with the 34th District Democrats, as did School Board District 6 Director candidate Gina Topp:

One of the other two School Board candidates, Maryanne Wood, also was in the parade.

So were entries supporting two County Council District 8 candidates – Sofia Aragon:

And Teresa Mosqueda:

(If you need an election refresher, here’s ours.)

This parade even had a Sasquatch sighting:

And a shout-out to the Adopt-a-Street cleanup crew who walked – with grabbers – down the parade route as the last entry:

(Photo courtesy West Seattle Grand Parade coordinator Michelle Edwards)

For the eighth consecutive West Seattle Grand Parade, judges have chosen the Seattle Public Schools All-City Band, directed by Dr. Marcus Pimpleton, as the grand-prize winner. Barbara Edwards leads the judging team (above), who watched from various spots along the route, then met post-parade to make their decisions. Here’s the list (update; we’re still adding more photos and video):

OVERALL GRAND PRIZE WINNERS

1st Place: Seattle Schools All-City Band

2nd Place: Kennedy Catholic Marching Band and Cheer

3rd Place: Holy Rosary School

COMMUNITY ADULT

1st Place: Lions Club of West Seattle

2nd Place: West Seattle Chamber of Commerce & Battle for West Seattle Winning Softball Team

3rd Place: West Seattle Yacht Club

COMMUNITY YOUTH

1st Place: Our Lady of Guadalupe School

2nd Place: Girl Scouts Rock

3rd Place: West Seattle Jr. Football and Cheer

MARCHING BANDS

1st Place: Seattle Schools All-City Band
2nd Place: Kennedy Catholic High School Marching Band

3rd Place (Tie): Washington Scottish Pipe Band and All Star Drumline

COMMERCIAL

1st Place: Dragonfly Yoga Pilates Dance
2nd Place: Dub Sea Fish Sticks

3rd Place: “There’s No Place Like Home” Village Green Retirement

DANCE TEAMS

1st Place: Joyas Mestizas

2nd Place: Grupo Folklorico Citlali

3rd Place: Leikarringen of Leif Erikson Lodge 2-001

CHEER TEAMS

1st Place: West Seattle High School Cheer

2nd Place: Chief Sealth High School Cheer

3rd Place: Kennedy Catholic High School Cheer

PERFORMING ACTS

1st Place: Seafair Pirates

2nd Place: Nile Shriners
3rd Place: Endolyne Children’s Choir

CARS & ANTIQUE CARS

1st Place: Corvette Marque Club of Seattle
2nd Place: 1942 American LaFrance Fire Engine

3rd Place: Pacific Northwest Delorean Club

DRILL TEAMS, SR.

1st Place: Epitome Family Entertainment

CONVEYED FLOATS

1st Place: Holy Rosary School
2nd Place: Seafair Commodores
3rd Place: Pacific NW Naval Air Museum Replica Nimitz

FESTIVAL ROYALTY

1st Place: The Daffodil Festival

2nd Place: Fathoms o’ Fun Festival – Legends Around the Sound

Congratulations to all!

P.S. The award ceremony was held post-parade at the Senior Center of West Seattle. Here are two photos from the Parade Committee, showing new parade participants accepting their trophies – Prentice Family Entertainment (with parade chair Keith Hughes at left and parade coordinator Michelle Edwards at right).

And Dragonfly Yoga and Pilates:

If you want to compare, here’s the list (with photos and video) of last year’s winners. Before that, the parade, like so many things, was on pandemic hiatus in 2020 and 2021.

This year, as in some past years, we’ll be publishing themed groups of photos from the West Seattle Grand Parade, starting with the boats! Above, the DubSea Fish Sticks baseball team from White Center. Below, the Miss HomeStreet Bank (WSB sponsor) hydroplane:

The Pacific Northwest Naval Air Museum from Oak Harbor brought its replica of the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) aircraft carrier, which is based in Bremerton:

Another replica – the Sea Scouts’ Yankee Clipper, sponsored by the Lions Club of West Seattle:

And it’s not a Seattle parade without the Seafair Pirates‘ Moby Duck:

The Seafair Commodores‘ parade boat carried festival royalty:

Last but by no means least, parading in their home port, the West Seattle Yacht Club:

Much more to come, including the list of winners – this is a judged parade – when we get it!

Just in case you were wondering – the parade is over (lots of coverage to come) and California SW has reopened. It ran exactly an hour at the California/Lander start and the last entries were in the final block before Edmunds around 12:45 pm. The bus reroutes should be ending shortly if they haven’t already.

(WSB file photo, Kennedy Catholic HS in past West Seattle Grand Parade)

Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade is just hours away, preceded by the Float Dodger 5K. Here’s a last look at what you need to know!

WHEN: The 5K starts at 9:30 am; the parade starts at 11 am.

WHERE: The parade starts from California/Lander and continues south on California to Edmunds – see the route here. The 5K travels the same route except for a start/finish slightly south, at West Seattle High School.

WHO: 70+ parade entries, 500+ 5K runners/walkers (you can still join them)

WHAT: Floats, all sorts of vehicles – cars, fire trucks, buses, boats – plus people walking, dancing, jumping, and rolling, drill teams, school groups, and yes, marching bands, like the All-City Band and Kennedy Catholic HS Band

GRAND MARSHAL: Whitney Moore, executive director of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, as noted here

ORVILLE RUMMEL TROPHY HONOREE: Erik Bell, founder of A Cleaner Alki, which has expanded to lead volunteers in stewarding a cleaner West Seattle in general – read more about him and the trophy here

PARADE PRESENTERS: The West Seattle Rotary Club Service Foundation presents the parade, which is planned and coordinated by volunteers

ANNOUNCERS: Led by West Seattle-residing journalist/broadcaster Brian Callanan and wife Christa Callanan at the main California/Alaska stand; the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle has a stand at California/Charlestown

AWARDS: The parade is judged and the winners will be announced post-parade (we’ll publish the list).

STREET CLOSURES/PARKING RESTRICTIONS: The latter kick in at 7 am (don’t risk getting your car towed!); the former start taking effect at 8 am. Also note that in addition to the route on California, some side streets near the start and end of the route are used for staging, so they are posted too. More info here. (P.S. Bus reroutes for Routes 50 and 128 and the C Line – info’s here.)

WHERE TO WATCH: Anywhere along the route! Be near California/Lander to be the first to see everyone get going; be at California/Charlestown or California/Alaska to hear the entries announced. (Some people stake out spots early.)

The West Seattle Grand Parade is is less than 36 hours away! Two more previews before this night is out:

(Seafair Pirates in 2019 West Seattle Grand Parade)

PARADE TRAFFIC: The parade starts at 11 am at California/Lander and heads south on California to Edmunds, and it’s preceded on that route by the Float Dodger 5K, starting at 9:30 am. The street closures and bus reroutes start earlier. Here’s what to know:

*Bus reroutes start at 5 am – you can see the changes for C Line, Route 50, and Route 128 buses by going here

*Street-closure signs are staged as early as 6 am

*No-parking enforcement starts at 7 am – please move vehicles before then

*Police start fully closing California from Admiral to Edmunds at 8 am – it’s a phased closure that will be complete by 9 am

*To travel north alongside the parade route, use 45th Avenue SW from Erskine to Oregon, 44th Ave SW from Oregon to Stevens, 45th Ave SW from Stevens to Admiral Way

*PCC (WSB sponsor) is accessible from 44th and Stevens, but don’t exit north through the alley; Admiral Safeway is accessible from Admiral Way SW and 42nd Avenue SW; you’ll have to exit back to Admiral Way.

GRAND MARSHAL: In addition to Erik Bell riding in the parade as the Orville Rummel Trophy winner, you can cheer for Grand Marshal Whitney Moore. She is about to leave the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce after two years as its executive director – two years during which energy and resiliency was vital, to help local businesses get through the pandemic and bridge closure. Whitney was hailed when she started the job as bringing “talents in community engagement, leadership, innovation, and a passion for small businesses” as well as “many years of leadership, communications, event planning, and strategic marketing experience.” Her future plans include completing a children’s book! Lately she’s been presiding as the Chamber celebrates its centennial, and by riding in the Grand Parade, she’s part of a tradition that’s been around almost that long. We asked for her thoughts on being this year’s Grand Marshal: “I’m honored to be the Grand Marshal for this year’s parade in West Seattle, Best Seattle! This is such a fun event and I love how many people it brings out to our local businesses year after year. West Seattle is the best community to be a part of and I’m humbled to be leading this year’s parade down our iconic California Ave SW.”

(2017 West Seattle Grand Parade photo by Christopher Boffoli – All-City Band)

This Saturday (July 22nd) is the day when West Seattle Grand Parade participants will roll, march, dance, and jump down California Avenue from SW Lander to SW Edmunds [map]. This past Monday, parade coordinators and committee members gathered for the annual pre-parade lineup meeting, and again this year, we got to observe.

This was the first year that parade applications were accepted online, so instead of the lineup meeting involving a long table topped with dozens of pieces of paper, this time it involved a spreadsheet with color-coded lines, projected onto a wall at the West Seattle Veteran Center/American Legion Post 160, in Pershing Hall, which serves as West Seattle’s only emergency shelter in the cold months.

Parade lineups are an art, not a science, and the descriptions submitted with entries are important in helping coordinators led by Michelle Edwards decide who goes where – it’s all carefully crafted, not just a matter of who shows up when and where on parade morning. But there are invariably last-minute surprises – no-shows, or entries that are nothing like what was described on the entry form. The coordinators just roll with it and make things work.

From the entries discussed at Monday night’s meeting, here’s some of what to look for (but again, it’s all tentative, subject to last-minute changes, cancellations, additions):

Marching bands including the ever-popular Seattle Schools All-City Band, featuring student musicians from all over the district, and Kennedy Catholic High School

Folklorico dancers

Youth groups (including jump-rope and singers)

Cheer teams

Floats from festivals (motorized) to schools (trucks and trailers)

Vessels, from the HomeStreet Bank (WSB sponsor) hydro to a USS Nimitz replica

Classic and antique cars

Fire engines, antique and modern

Seafair Pirates and Clowns

The West Seattle Amateur Radio Club (whose members also help parade coordinators with communication along the parade route)

New entries include the Burien UFO Festival

In all, at least 70 entries are expected, more than last year. The Parade Committee is still working to confirm some entries who signed up early. If you enjoy behind-the-scenes activity, wander the staging zone (California north of Lander, plus Lander on both sides) before the parade start time of 11 am. Parade prep starts hours earlier (and remember the Float Dodger 5K takes off from the West Seattle High School lot at 9:30 am). The parade is presented by the West Seattle Rotary Service Foundation. You can watch anywhere along the route; announcers will be at California/Charlestown and California/Alaska. We’ll have another preview tomorrow!

Just 12 days until the West Seattle Grand Parade. Every year, parade organizers chose a community member to honor with the Orville Rummel Trophy for Outstanding Service to the Community. This year, they’ve chosen Erik Bell. His organization is called A Cleaner Alki, but his work leading and inspiring cleanup projects has spanned all of West Seattle – and beyond.

(Photos provided by Erik Bell via West Seattle Parade Committee)

Erik describes himself as “a fourth-generation West Seattleite, a graphic designer and photographer by trade, and I’ve found great satisfaction utilizing my background to promote, document, and facilitate local community-cleanup events over the past several years with like-minded neighbors.”

Here’s how he got started: “My interest in this type of work was born out of frustration with the mess that parts of our city had become. But a friend’s observation that my focus to complain and find others to blame was a wake-up call for me, he rightfully noted that if I was bothered enough by a mess then I could do something about it rather than make up stories about who was at fault.” He and his brother Garet started walking the beach on Saturday mornings, and added cleaning up to their meetups. Then:

“My wife Monica and kids Caitlin, Hailey, Sof, and Evelyn have also joined me and are big supporters of these endeavors.”

During the pandemic, coping with feeling down, Erik “found myself turning to daily morning cleanups along the beach as a way to get my day going; this turned out to be a great tool for my mental and spiritual health.” In 2021, he launched A Cleaner Alki online to invite others to join in. “We moved off the beach and out into the community; this is also when I got actively involved in Seattle Public Utilities’ Adopt-a-Street program.”

Two years later, Erik says A Cleaner Alki has three general types of cleanups:

1) I deliver and pick up our self-led Block Drop stations around West Seattle each day for volunteers to collect trash from family-friendly areas; residential neighborhoods, schools, parks, beaches, and business junctions. Block Drops is a Girl Scouts project my daughter Evelyn and several of her troopmates (Emma & Paige) developed for their Silver Award in 2022 that I have committed to sustain.

2) I also organize weekly Cleanup Events along neglected roadways, at illegal dumping grounds, picking up garbage from unhoused neighbors in RVs, or cleaning up encampments with consent from residents.

3) We’ve also recently added Spruced Cleanups to our lineup where we work on overgrown sidewalks, staircases, dilapidated properties and other infrastructure as a way to create safer, easier-to-travel neighborhoods.

Erik has gratitude galore: “I’ve been extremely blessed to have such a loyal and hard working volunteer base that supports my efforts and who continue to ask where we’re headed next, or as is becoming more the case, making specific requests and suggestions as to where they want to see work being done.”

The results? More than 3,000 volunteers giving more than 4,000 hours of their time, removing more than 28,000 pounds – 14 tons! – of trash. And the operation keeps getting bigger: “In the past several months I’ve been contacted by a slew of corporate entities looking for ways for their employees to get involved through their public service initiatives. REI, Amazon, Filson, Starbucks, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Pacific Environment and The Ohio State University have all come out and done cleanups in 2023.”

Of the award, Erik says, “I’m truly humbled and honored to receive the Orville Rummel Community Service award as it’s been such a meaningful and therapeutic part of my life, though none of this would have been possible without all the great friends and neighbors who come out and make these cleanups happen, and for the Adopt a Street program which helps dispose of almost everything we collect.” You can join, too! And/or you can help by donating to A Cleaner Alki’s crowdfunding campaign for a work vehicle and ongoing operation expenses.

And on July 22 – you can cheer for Erik as he rides in the Grand Parade with the Orville Rummel Trophy. (And be sure not to litter while you’re there!) The West Seattle Grand Parade will start from California/Lander at 11 am that day, and travel south on California to Edmunds – you can watch from anywhere along the route; announcing stands are expected at California/Alaska and California/Charlestown. Parade judges station themselves along the route and announce prize winners afterward (here’s who won last year).

ABOUT THE ORVILLE RUMMEL AWARD: It’s named after the man who founded the West Seattle parade in 1934, Orville Rummel – lots of background in the story we published the year we were honored with the trophy, 2010. The award was first presented in 1984. Here’s the full list of recipients along the way (no parade 2020-2021 because of the pandemic, so no award recipient):

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
2012: Shirley Vradenburgh
2013: Judy Pickens
2014: Earl Cruzen
2015: Donn Weaver
2016: Clay Eals
2017: Keith Hughes
2018: Velko Vitalich
2019: Adah Cruzen
2022: Deb Barker

If you were somewhere on California SW between Admiral or The Junction, watching today’s West Seattle Grand Parade, congratulations on being part of its big comeback! We’ve already published photos of the winning entries, plus video of the entire parade, but we wanted to acknowledge even more of the people who participated:

Above, with the Orville Rummel Trophy for Outstanding Service to the Community, is this year’s winner Deb Barker – we told her story here last Monday (with a list of prior winners); it’s a special honor presented by the parade committee every year (except for the recent hiatus). She was chauffeured by local entrepreneur and preservationist John Bennett in his 1949 Cadillac convertible. Also in a classic convertible, a 1972 Eldorado, this year’s Grand Marshal, restaurateur and small-business advocate Dan Austin:

The award-winning Highland Park Improvement Club entry (also featuring a replica of the fire-damaged HPIC building) had a guest of honor – riding in Kelly Lyles‘s art car was past HPIC president Martha Mallett:

(Photo by Holli Margell)

Parade co-sponsor Potter Construction (WSB sponsor)’s founder Gary Potter walked with his company’s entry:

From West Seattle Baseball, the tournament-champion 10U Red All-Stars:

(Photo by Holli Margell)

Two West Seattle-residing elected officials walked in the parade – King County Executive Dow Constantine, with a battery-electric Metro bus …

… and U.S. House Rep. Pramila Jayapal, walking with the 34th District Democrats …

The only city entry was North Admiral-headquartered Seattle Fire Engine 29:

(Photo by Holli Margell)

Again, if you weren’t there, you can see our video of the entire almost-an-hour parade – presented by the West Seattle Rotary Club Service Foundation – here; see the award winners here.

The end of today’s West Seattle Grand Parade didn’t mean the end of work for the volunteers who make it happen. Among them, the judges, who gathered at the Senior Center of West Seattle post-parade to decide the winners. Here are the results!

OVERALL GRAND PRIZE WINNERS

1st Place – Seattle All-City Band

2nd Place – Sequim Irrigation Festival

3rd Place – Electronettes Drill Team and Drill Squad

DANCE AND CHEER TEAMS

1st Place – West Seattle High School Cheer

2nd Place – Joyas Mestizas – Seattle Mexican Folk Dance Group

3rd Place – Grupo Folklorico Citlali

MARCHING BANDS

1st Place – Kennedy High School “Lancer” Marching Band

2nd Place – America’s First Corps Army Band

3rd Place – All Star Drumline

SELF-PROPELLED FLOATS

1st Place – Sequim Irrigation Festival

2nd Place – Fathoms O’ Fun, Port Orchard

CONVEYED FLOATS

1st Place – Holy Rosary School

2nd Place – Mountain to Sound Outfitters

3rd Place – Seattle Commodores

COMMUNITY

1st Place – Washington State Sons of the American Revolution

2nd Place – Southside Revolution Jr. Roller Derby

3rd Place – Highland Park Improvement Club

DRILL TEAMS – SR.

1st Place – Electronettes Drill Team and Drum Squad

2nd Place – Washington Diamonds Drill Team

DRILL TEAMS – JR.

1st Place – Electronettes Butterfly Drill Team
2nd Place – Washington Diamonds Drill Team Jr.

3rd Place – Daughters of Royalty Drill Team

PERFORMING ACTS

1st Place – Seafair Pirates

2nd Place – Seafair Clowns

3rd Place – Rain City Rope Works

CARS & ANTIQUE CARS

1st Place – 1942 American LaFrance Fire Truck

2nd Place – WA MINI United Parade Team

3rd Place – West Seattle VFW

COMMERCIAL

1st Place – Capital West Homes

2nd Place – Chuck-E-Cheese

3rd Place – West Seattle Reign Sports

The West Seattle Grand Parade Judges Committee members are Rolla Queen, Sheryl Bogie, Mike Sutter, Carol Pennie, Rob Zoffel, led by Barbara Edwards:

We’ll continue adding photos/videos above, and we’ll have a few additional photo galleries to come too; for video of the entire parade, see our earlier report.

11:09 AM: Just under way from California/Lander, with Grand Marshal Dan Austin leading the way, the first West Seattle Grand Parade since 2019 has begun. The 70+ entries – floats, marching bands, drill teams, community groups, schools, businesses, more – will proceed down California SW to SW Edmunds, at the south end of The Junction, over the next hour or so. Parade-team members are all along the route to make sure things go well; California will remain closed along the route until the parade has passed (here’s the bus-reroute info).

(Added: Photo courtesy West Seattle Kiwanis)

Announcers are at California/Charlestown (with the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle) and California/Alaska (with Brian and Christa Callanan).

(Added: WSB photo)

We’ll have some in-progress updates on our Twitter feed at @westseattleblog, plus we will update here when the parade’s over; then we’ll have separate reports here on WSB later with lots of photos and video from the parade.

11:58 AM: The parade is over at the start line. (Above – that’s coordinator Michelle Edwards, and when she’s left the starting line, you KNOW the last entry has hit the road.) We’ll update again when it has concluded at The Junction.

12:42 PM: Parade’s entirely over, and California has reopened.

2:25 PM: Before we assemble other highlight reports, here’s our unedited video of the entire parade as it reached The Junction, just under an hour long:

Colton Grant and Karl Coy from Potter Construction (WSB sponsor) sent that photo after decorating the company truck that’ll be in Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade, one of 70+ entries. With the parade – a tradition since 1935 – just hours away, we have one last preview with what you need to know:

WHEN: Starting at 11 am.

WHERE: Starting from California/Lander and continuing south on California to Edmunds – see the route here.

WHO: People from all over West Seattle, and some beyond (Sequim, Olympia, Port Orchard, among others)

WHAT: Floats, all sorts of vehicles – cars, fire trucks, buses, boats – plus people walking, dancing, jumping, and rolling, drill teams, and yes, marching bands, like the All-City Band, which practiced last night at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex:

GRAND MARSHAL: Dan Austin (proprietor of Peel & Press in Morgan Junction and longtime small-business advocate)

ORVILLE RUMMEL TROPHY HONOREE: Deb Barker (longtime community advocate/volunteer, profiled here)

PARADE PRESENTERS: The West Seattle Rotary Club Service Foundation presents the parade, which is planned and coordinated by volunteers, chaired by Keith Hughes.

ANNOUNCERS: Led by West Seattle-residing journalist/broadcaster Brian Callanan – the announcing stand is at California/Alaska.

AWARDS: The parade is judged and the winners will be announced post-parade (we’ll publish the list).

STREET CLOSURES/PARKING RESTRICTIONS: The latter kick in at 7 am (don’t risk getting your car towed!); the former, a bit later. Also note that in addition to the route on California, some side streets near the start and end of the route are used for staging, so they are posted too. (P.S. Bus reroutes for Routes 50 and 128 and the C Line – info’s here.)

5K BEFORE THE PARADE: The Float Dodger 5K walkers/runners head down the route at 9:30 am – last-minute registration is available near the starting line at Hiawatha Playfield, and a free kids’ dash is set for 8:45 am.

WHERE TO WATCH: Anywhere along the route! Be near California/Lander to be the first to see everyone get going; be at California/Charlestown or California/Alaska to hear the entries announced. (Some people stake out spots early.)

If the West Seattle Grand Parade had a marquee, the All-City Band would be atop it – the student musicians who are perennial favorites in this parade and others. Above is video sent to us showing the band practicing at Seattle Center earlier this week; tonight they’ll be rehearsing at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex; and then you can watch for them Saturday as the parade gets going at 11 am from California and Lander, headed south on California to Edmunds. Their rehearsals are reminders that parades don’t just spontaneously happen – they take a lot of planning. We got our annual peek into the parade-planning process back on Monday night at American Legion Post 160 headquarters in The Triangle.

(WSB photo. From left, Rolla Queen, Jim Edwards, Keith Hughes, Michelle Edwards)

That’s when members of the parade team gathered for the lineup meeting, arranging the 70+ entries into a running order for Saturday. It’s definitely an art – beyond the perennial basics such as placing the Grand Marshal (this year, restaurateur and small-business advocate Dan Austin) and Orville Rummel Trophy winner (Deb Barker, as reported here) toward the start. This year was especially interesting, noted coordinator Michelle Edwards, because of the variety of entries – some regular participants haven’t fully restarted their efforts, but some first-time-ever entries surfaced to more than compensate.

Entries are from as far away as Sequim and Olympia, but of course West Seattle entries are at the heart. You’ll see community groups like the Highland Park Improvement Club, sports organizations like West Seattle Baseball and West Seattle Reign, unique vehicles like the DeLoreans and antique fire trucks, school groups including Holy Rosary and West Seattle High School, jump-rope performers, roller skaters, two folkloric dance groups, local businesses (including WSB sponsors Potter Construction and Mountain to Sound Outfitters) … All-City Band isn’t the only marching band; other musical entries include the Kennedy Catholic High School Marching Band. And on Wednesday, we told you about the nautical entries!

Sometimes things change at the last minute, so the parade team has to plan for that too, with placeholders and contingency plans. And it all has to balance out with the staging areas on Saturday morning near the starting point. With all the street-closure and no-parking signs along the route, lots of logistics are involved – generally unseen along the parade sidelines are amateur-radio operators communicating about anything of note (stalled vehicles, for example).

But all you have to do is show up and watch! Anywhere along the route (announcements can be heard at two spots, California/Charlestown and California/Alaska). The parade starts at 11 am, but the street closures start hours earlier, with parking restrictions kicking in at 7 am (don’t ignore the signs, you’ll be towed). At least one more preview to come!

Three days until the West Seattle Grand Parade, so today we step up the previews. As had become an annual tradition pre-pandemic, we sat in on the parade-lineup meeting, where parade-team members arrange the entries into the order you’ll see on Saturday (July 23rd). The 70+ entries this year include more nautical-themed participants than past years.

(Photo courtesy Michelle Edwards)

That’s Smitty J. Tugboat from the South Sound Maritime Heritage Foundation. You’ll also see a 21-foot replica of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (itself periodically seen off West Seattle), courtesy of the Pacific Northwest Naval Air Museum, plus the Miss HomeStreet hydro, Seafair Pirates‘ landlubbing vessel Moby Duck, and boats from the Seafair Commodores and the West Seattle Yacht Club.

(WSB photo, Moby Duck at Alki before last month’s Seafair Pirates Landing)

Also in the seagoing vein, other entries include a float from Port Orchard’s Fathoms O’ Fun Festival and local wildlife responders SR3.

That’s just a small sampling of who and what you’ll see on Saturday. The parade starts from California/Lander at 11 am and travels south down California to Edmunds (see the route here). You can hear the announcements at California/Charlestown and California/Alaska. Since this is a transition year, no pre-parade mini-parades this year – like the PAWrade or Kiddies’ Parade – aside from the Float Dodger 5K, which heads down the parade route at 9:30 am. Next preview, we’ll have more about the parade entries, plus the behind-the-scenes parade process.