Yet more highlights from today’s West Seattle Grand Parade. Big cheers for the first-time appearance by a group for whom the parade route was like a walk in the park – Team Tracy, the breast-cancer-fighting 3-Day Walk team led by survivor and superstar fundraiser Tracy Dart. Some walkers sported bras they had decorated at a parade-prep party earlier in the week; the group was accompanied by a motorcycle:

Elsewhere on 2 wheels, Sustainable West Seattle and West Seattle Bike Connections were among the sustainable-transportation advocates who rallied young bicyclists for the first “Kidical Mass” parade ride:

1-wheelers represented, too- the Pathfinder K-8 unicyclists:

Back on 4 wheels, the West Seattle Lions Club had a multiple-vehicle presence, with the lead vehicle, if you look closely, sporting a sign noting that parade day was recently retired service-station proprietor Dick Barnecut‘s birthday (87!):

Some of the most-memorable people were cheering on the sidelines:

At California/Alaska, current West Seattle Hi-Yu royalty cheered past royalty who are competing in the Miss Seafair program this year – Kayli Schulz, representing Hi-Yu, and Victoria Ferrulli, representing the Admiral Neighborhood Association:

Speaking of competing – there were of course politicians – in alphabetical order, we start with King County Executive Dow Constantine, running for re-election but with no opponent actually campaigning:

Running for Seattle mayor, four candidates were in or at the parade – here’s City Councilmember Bruce Harrell:

Incumbent Mayor Mike McGinn wasn’t “in” the parade but was sighted on the sidelines – we didn’t see him but his Twitter account included photos:

State Senator Ed Murray started out marching with the 34th District Democrats and had broken out by the parade’s final section:

And former City Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck campaigned his way down California (we heard him asking spectators “Are you undecided?”):

We should also note that current Councilmembers Richard Conlin and Sally Bagshaw, running for re-election, were here too, as were local legislators accompanying with the 34th.

Our other Grand Parade coverage for this year, and past years, is archived here.

(WSB photos by Katie Meyer)
Every year before the West Seattle Grand Parade, kids get a parade of their own courtesy of the Rotary Club of West Seattle, the Rotary Kiddie Parade. Above, the Junior All-City Band (which trailed the rest of the paraders by a bit today); below, Charlotte led the main group:

Some paraded in costume:

Some in mini-vehicles, too:

Rotarians provided balloons for kids who signed up:

And the Kiddie Parade even drew “royalty”:

This parade travels a shorter route than the Grand Parade – down California from the north end of The Junction (SW Genesee) to the south end (SW Edmunds).

(EDITOR’S NOTE: More Grand Parade reports to be published Saturday night-Sunday morning)

(Thanks to Frank for that photo of part of the Luna Park Café entry, #1 in Commercial)
The list is just in from West Seattle Grand Parade coordinators and judges:

Overall Grand Prize Winners

1st​ – Marysville Strawberry Festival Float

2nd ​- Seattle Schools All-City Marching Band

3rd​ – Calgary Round-Up Band
 
CLOWNS

(From the Seafair Clowns, West Seattle’s own “Officer Lumpy”)
1st​ – Seattle Seafair Clowns
2nd ​- Lake City Western Vigilantes
3rd​ – Keystone Kops
 
PERFORMING ACTS

1st ​- Seafair Pirates

(Photo by Rachel Chaimson)
2nd​ – Joyas Mestizas – Mexican Folk Dance
3rd​ – Pathfinder K-8 School Unicycle Team
 
COMMERCIAL
1st​ – Luna Park Café (see top photo)
2nd​ – Hotwire Coffee
3rd​ – Seattle Public Utilities
 
CARS
1st​ – Last Resort Fire Department
2nd​ – Hope Lutheran School
3rd​ – 1942 LaFrance Fire Truck
 
DRILL TEAMS – JUNIOR
1st ​- Electronette Butterflies

2nd ​- The Princesses of Elegance
3rd​ – Anointed to Praise Drill Team
 
DRILL TEAMS – SENIOR
1st​ – Electronette High Steppers & Drum Corp

2nd​ – Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team
3rd​ – The Ladies of Elegance Drill Team (see them with Princesses of Elegance in clip above)
 
COMMUNITY

1st​ – Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish & School

2nd​ – Cub Scout Pack 793
3rd​ – WestSide Baby – Stuff the Bus (see video here)
 
FLOATS
1st​ – Marysville Strawberry Festival (see video earlier in this story)
 
BANDS

1st​ – Seattle Police Pipe and Drum Corp

2nd ​- Kennedy Catholic High School Marching Band

We’ll continue adding photos and video to this over the course of the weekend, since we have video and/or photos of everyone in the parade! Meantime, our other Grand Parade coverage – from today and from previous years – is archived here.

(Find all our parade coverage in this archive – newest to oldest)

12:49 PM: After almost two hours, the West Seattle Grand Parade is over in the Admiral District, where it begins, and the north part of California SW has reopened to traffic as of a few minutes ago. Final entry is Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor), with a live band, The Afterthoughts, on board a flatbed tow truck. Lots of great moments before that, too, and we’ll be rolling out highlights for hours to come. (P.S. Hotwire is alongside the courtyard where we hope to see you tonight for the first West Seattle Outdoor Movies presentation of the season!)

1:30 PM: Our crew on the south end of the route reports that the parade has concluded there too.

Meantime, in advance of later reports focusing on parade angles such as the trophy winners, we’re expanding this one to include not only the end of the parade but a few sights from the start!

Above, the West Seattle Hi-Yu float in action (you can also see it in tomorrow afternoon’s White Center Jubilee Days parade and the Seafair Torchlight Parade a week from tonight). Below, a quick maneuver by the Vancouver, B.C., Police Motorcycle Drill Team – in the only Seattle-area parade in which they participate!

10:16 AM: In its second year, the West Seattle Float Dodger 5K is an unquestionable hit – West Seattle Runner (Float Dodger and WSB sponsor) told us that as of earlier this week, registration already had eclipsed the first year’s total turnout, and having just watched the entire crowd pass here at California/Lander, we can verify a bigger crowd.

Our video (top of this story) includes some of the runners around the middle of the pack; we had a crew at the starting line too, and will add much more later – but for now, we’re getting close to West Seattle Grand Parade time!

ADDED 1:49 PM: The results are now available online. Brett Winegar, #720, finished in 16:11, followed by Jeffrey Bigham, #698, in 16:35. First female finisher was Caitlin Latimer, #690, in 19:19; second was Katherine Urbanski, #668, in 20:30. The official results show almost 300 runners!

We’ll be checking with organizers for other winners – best costume, etc.

ADDED 7:51 PM: A very special aspect of today’s Float Dodger 5K was the dedication. As explained on the official website:

This year’s race is dedicated to Andrea Boag, a dear friend of Tim and Lori, owners of West Seattle Runner. On June 10th, she passed away, ending a long battle with cancer. Andrea lives forever in our hearts and this race is in honor of her.

Below, with a poster honoring Andrea, are from left, West Seattle Runner co-proprietor Lori McConnell, Andrea’s sister Sara, her nephew Ethan, and her mom Kristin:

The race’s emcee – leading a moment of silence and the countdown – was KIRO TV’s Michelle Millman, herself a cancer survivor:

Here’s that countdown, and the start of the race:

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is a major beneficiary of the Float Dodger 5K, and Tim and Lori also invite donations in honor of Andrea – go here.

8:48 AM: The hundreds of people who’ll be part of the 70-plus entries in today’s West Seattle Grand Parade are getting ready – including West Seattle Hi-Yu volunteers accompanying this year’s float, themed “Alki Deep,” photographed a few minutes ago in the staging area. More parade-prep coverage to come; the parade starts at 11 am, heading south on California from Lander to Edmunds (see the route here; see traffic/bus changes here).
9:22 AM: At the Float Dodger 5K starting line (9:45 am, California/Charlestown), signs of the times:

Note that we’ll be sharing photos via Instagram before, during, and after – see our feed here. Another one – back at the parade’s starting line, co-coordinator Jim Edwards:

A bit of drizzle amid the fog a few minutes ago – but that seems to have stopped (no, wait, there it is again). Think sun – but bring a jacket to start off with!

ADDED 5:35 PM: A few more pre-parade scenes – featuring the Seafair Pirates, who once again came to Merrill Gardens-Admiral Heights (WSB sponsor) for breakfast:

This year’s Captain Kidd – West Seattleite Rusty Harper – shared a table with Hi-Yu royalty:

But before the parade – Moby Duck needed a fill-up, and they went over to Admiral (formerly Barnecut’s) Shell:

Our parade coverage, from today and earlier, is all archived here.

Less than 12 hours to go until the West Seattle Grand Parade, presented by American Legion Post 160, and the Rotary Club of West Seattle‘s Kiddie Parade. (Both follow the Float Dodger 5K, starting at 9:45 am at California/Charlestown, which we previewed last night.) Here are a few more preview notes:

JUNIOR ALL-CITY BAND IN KIDDIE PARADE: Don’t miss the Junior All-City Band in the Kiddie Parade! First we got this reminder from Jeff Clark, principal of Denny International Middle School, which has many ties to Junior ACB:

One of the beautiful things about our school and campus is the creation of cross-age learning opportunities — when kids of different ages have shared experiences, benefitting from cross-age mentoring. Mr. Pimpleton, Band Director for Denny International Middle School, Chief Sealth International High School, and the Seattle Public Schools All-City Band, continues to provide fantastic musical learning opportunities through-out the summer. The Junior All-City Band consists of students from all of our feeder elementary schools and current Denny students performing together — with mentoring from high school and college-age musicians. Thank you to Mr. Pimpleton and all of the volunteers who make Jr. All-City Band possible. I look forward to celebrating their success at upcoming parades! Go current and future Dolphins!

Then, from Marcus Pimpleton himself:

I would really like to highlight the work that John Aguilar has been doing. John is an alumnus of both Denny and Sealth and has participated as a volunteer in all of our Spring and Summer camps. This year he has more or less been running the Junior All-City program and deserves the lion share of the credit for what the students have accomplished this week. He has been assisted by a great group of high school students from a number of different high schools. It has been great kind of taking a back seat and watching these kids work and show what they have learned after all of these years of participating in these programs.

That’s John Aguilar in the photo above. Cheer him and the young musicians on, during the parade!

TEAM TRACY IN GRAND PARADE: Every year they walk for three days to fight breast cancer; in the West Seattle Grand Parade, West Seattleite Tracy Dart and her team will be on their feet for a few hours to encourage you to join the fight.

STUFF THE BUS: WestSide Baby‘s big contingent will be back to remind you that Sunday is the annual mega-diaper drive – although they’ll be doing some advance collecting Saturday afternoon, too, at West Seattle, White Center, and Burien supermarkets – watch our Saturday morning preview for details on that.

HOTWIRE ON THE ROUTE AND IN THE PARADE: Lora Swift from Hotline Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) says, “We are in the parade too – using a GT towing truck for an ‘all American rock n’ roll band’ – The After Thoughts. They will be on the parade route playing on the flatbed of the truck then will loop around and play in the courtyard for a set. We’ll be handing out coupons at Hotwire plus free (while supplies last) organic juice pops for the kids.”

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD HONOR GUARD: Parade coordinators told us they’re especially glad to have this honor guard back to lead the parade, since with the “sequester” removing so many military groups from community appearances (think Blue Angels and Navy Seafair Fleet), they weren’t sure whether it would affect this too.

DELRIDGE GROCERY: Organizers and volunteers from the store that’s gearing up to open next year in the under-construction DESC building will be walking in the parade.

POLITICIANS: At least two candidates for mayor will be in the parade, as of this past Monday, when we sat in on part of the parade lineup meeting. In all, as of that meeting, there were five political entries.

And many more (including faves like the cannon-firing Seafair Pirates). Review our previous preview coverage, and previous years, by scrolling through this WSB archive. Better yet, just line the parade route at 11 am and cheer for your neighbors and friends.