West Seattle, Washington
21 Tuesday
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As noted in our preview coverage, the West Seattle Grand Parade dates back almost a century, founded in the mid-1930s. Local historian/journalist Clay Eals reminds us of a civic cause that spilled over into the 1989 parade – the closure of the Admiral Theater, and the campaign to save it. Film footage shot on July 29, 1989, by Ed Thorburn of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society and uploaded by Clay documents the “Save the Admiral” parade entry during pre-parade staging and during the parade; it’s 25 minutes of raw video, but if you only have a few minutes to spare, watch the last five minutes or so, showing West Seattle businesses in The Junction, circa 1989, as the parade rolls through. (That includes Easy Street Records in its old location a bit north of the current one, mentioned by this year’s Grand Marshal, Easy Street prprietor Matt Vaughan, in his comments about the tribute. (As you’ve probably guessed, The Admiral was eventually saved – though its then-owner Cineplex Odeon had shut it down half a year before the parade).
P.S. In a moment evocative of Seattle Now & Then, the Seattle Times Sunday magazine feature Clay writes – which also has its own website – one of the community volunteers who played a prominent role in the “Save the Admiral” campaign – and the 1989 parade entry – was involved with this year’s parade too. We happened to photograph her pre-parade:
At left is Deb Barker, staffing the check-in table with Kyle Edwards (brother of parade coordinator Michelle Edwards). She remains civically involved to this day, including as president of the Morgan Community Association.
The West Seattle Grand Parade is one of the city’s last community parades – and at its heart are community organizations. We’ve shown some in our previous reports on Saturday’s parade – here are more!
(First 3 photos by Oliver Hamlin for WSB)
Above, West Seattle Indivisible‘s message was simple – vote! Below, the West Seattle and Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor) wants you to get moving:
The West Seattle Tool Library‘s entry reminded paradegoers that they have hundreds of tools available to borrow:
WestSide Baby is celebrating its 25th anniversary by going back to a classic campaign – “Stuff the Bus” with diapers!
Also celebrating community support, the West Seattle Food Bank …
Invest in Youth deploys local volunteers to tutor local kids – we feature their announcements every year:
West Seattle Little League‘s district-champion softball players marched …
… with sidelines support from a proud dad, City Councilmember Rob Saka, handing out “Love Softball” stickers:
West Seattle Wildcats Junior Football and Cheer greeted fans:
SkunkWorks Robotics had a ball-tossing robot on their trailer:
Local Scouts were again part of the parade:
So were two schools we haven’t shown you yet – Our Lady of Guadalupe had a colorful LEGO-esque theme, “Building Community”:
Westside School (WSB sponsor) focused on sea life:
Impact West Seattle pools donations to boost a different organization every quarter:
Parade entries also included organizations with a long history of community work – the parade-presenting Rotary Club of West Seattle (WSB sponsor) showcased their polio-fighting wheel:
The West Seattle Eagles:
Still some parade moments to share in a final report later today! You can scroll through all our coverage, including previews (and past years!), here.
The judges’ decisions are in! Here are the winners in the judged categories of today’s West Seattle Grand Parade, led again this year by the All-City Band. With a team of four covering the parade this year, we have photos and/or video of all the entries, so we’ll be adding it to each entry on the list in the hours ahead:
Overall Grand Prize Winners
1st Place: Seattle All-City Band
2nd Place: Seattle Seafair Pirates
3rd Place: Holy Rosary School
Community Dance Teams
(Most photos by Oliver Hamlin for WSB)
1st Place: Joyas Mestizas
2nd Place: Lady Bandits Majorette Dance Team
Marching Bands
1st Place: Seattle All-City Band
2nd Place: Kennedy Catholic High School Lancer Marching Band and Color Guard
Performing Acts
1st Place TIE:
Panama Folklore SeattleSeattle Chinese American Chamber of Commerce
Cheer Teams
1st Place: West Seattle High School Coed Cheer Team
2nd Place: Kennedy Catholic High School Cheer Team
3rd Place: Chief Sealth International High School Cheerleaders
Commercial
1st Place: Dragonfly
2nd Place: Equilibrium Therapy Group
3rd Place: Airport Towing, Burien Towing + Columbia Towing
Cars & Antique Cars
1st Place TIE:
Seattle Art Cars
Corvette Marque Club of Seattle
2nd Place: 1942 American LaFrance Fire Engine
3rd Place: Can Doo Pet Waste ServiceCommunity Youth
1st Place: Southside Revolution Junior Roller Derby
2nd Place: Endolyne Children’s Choir
3rd Place: Hope School
Community Adult
1st Place: West Seattle Mrs. Ropers
2nd Place: F3 Seattle
3rd Place: West Seattle Lions ClubDrill Team Jr.
1st Place: Princess of Elegance
2nd Place: Babynettes Drill Team
3rd Place: Daughters of Royalty Drill and Dance Ensemble
Drill Team Sr.
1st Place: The Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team
2nd Place: Ladies of Elegance and Drumline
3rd Place: Electronettes Hi-Steppers Drill Team and Drumline
Conveyed Float
1st Place: Holy Rosary School
2nd Place: StarCycle
3rd Place: Calvary Chapel West SeattleSeafair
1st Place: Seafair Pirates
2nd Place: Seafair Commodores
3rd Place: Seattle Seafair Clowns
ADDED 10;35 PM: Just got a photo of the judging team!
They fan out along the parade route to watch and evaluate.
(WSB photo by Oliver Hamlin)
Easy Street Records and Café proprietor Matt Vaughan was the epitome of cool in shades and hat as he rode down the West Seattle Grand Parade route as this year’s Grand Marshal.
Bonus iconic shot, Matt riding past his business:
Right behind him in another Corvette Manque Club of Seattle convertible was Kiwanis Club of West Seattle president Denis Sapiro, with this year’s Orville Rummel Trophy for Service to the Community:
Also riding in a convertible – we’re told this couple got the ride as a surprise from a relative/friend who won it at a fundraising auction for ArtsWest!
ADDED: Here’s the explanation, from the parade announcers’ script:
In a fantastic Corvette provided by the Corvette Marque Club, of Seattle we have supporters of ArtsWest, who through an auction donation have coordinated a great surprise for their Uncle Lloyd with an opportunity to ride in the West Seattle Grand Parade for his 80th Birthday! Kristine and her family helped set up this surprise; you may recognize Kristine and Lloyd through their involvement with West Seattle’s Center for Active Living. Uncle Lloyd is an active member of the Eagles Club as well.
More parade coverage to come – next up, we just received the list of winners!
This year for the first time in modern memory, the West Seattle Grand Parade had four announcing sites. In Admiral, near the start, Dan and Joanie Jacobs of the Admiral Neighborhood Association:
(WSB photos by Macey Wurm)
At California and Charlestown, Joel Draper and Karl Sutter of the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle:
Outside the West Seattle Eagles aerie, Tom Hutyler, best known as Voice of the Mariners at T-Mobile Park:
And the main longtime announcing site at Walk-All-Ways, with Brian and Christa Callanan:
If you missed – or want to relive – the entire hour-plus parade, here’s our unedited video, in 10 chronologically ordered chunks, recorded at California/Alaska (you’ll hear the Callanans announcing each passing entry, since our videographer was on the same corner):
(WSB videos by Torin Record-Sand)
We’ll have individual-entry clips (and photos) later in our upcoming reports (schools, cheer teams, and always best of all, the parade judges’ choices of winners).
Last reminder of the night that tomorrow (Saturday, July 18) brings the West Seattle Grand Parade, preceded by the Float Dodger 5K. Two scenes from this afternoon as hundreds prepared to participate:
The photos above and below are from Arlene Rubin, who happened upon this group outside a home in the Lowman Beach area where this group was working on their entry for the parade.
The Lions Club of West Seattle and local VFW Post 2713 are parade regulars. Meantime, we stopped in West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) this afternoon as they offered three hours of packet pickup and in-person registration for tomorrow’s Float Dodger 5K, which is presented by WSR with proceeds benefiting the West Seattle Food Bank.
More than 500 runners and walkers are registered to head out from Hiawatha Playfield at 9:30 am, down the parade route on California SW and back.
You still have time to register, either online or at Hiawatha right before tomorrow morning. After the Float Dodger – which is preceded by a free Kids’ Dash at 8:45 am – pick your parade-watching spot and settle in! There’ll be an announcing station in the Admiral area for the first time, one of four along the route. And whether you’re going or not, remember that California SW closes from just south of Admiral to just north of Dawson – a few extra blocks for staging and dispersal – at 8 am.
We’re less than 24 hours away from this year’s West Seattle Grand Parade, which starts at California/Lander at 11 am Saturday, heading southbound on California SW to SW Edmunds at the south end of The Junction. Here are more quick notes on what you will and won’t see (barring last-minute changes):
*Pacific Northwest Naval Air Museum is set to bring its inflatable model of the PBY-5A “flying boat,” seen above in a museum photo from last fall’s Auburn Veterans Day Parade.
*Folkloric dancers – Panama Folklore Seattle is new this year; Joyas Mestizas are returning.
*Marching bands – the stars of summer parade season, the All-City Marching Band (celebrating their 75th anniversary tonight in West Seattle!), will be there, as well the Kennedy High School Marching Band and Cheer Team from Burien.
*Also cheering – Both the Chief Sealth IHS and West Seattle HS Cheer Teams are in the lineup.
*Biggest entry? Holy Rosary School usually has a sizable entourage but this year plans upward of 200 people, according to parade organizers.
Many, many more! As noted above, parades always have the chance of last-minute changes. And that goes for this one – the Seattle Police Motorcycle Drill Team has canceled at the last minute, parade organizers tell us. So on the “loud entry” scale, you’ll have to settle for the Seafair Pirates‘ cannon!
Remember, the day begins with the Float Dodger 5K on the parade route starting at 9:30 am – not too late to register to run or walk, and if you’re already signed up, you can pick up your packet early, 3-6 pm today at West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor), which presents the Float Dodger as a fundraiser for the West Seattle Food Bank.
(Matt and Kisha Vaughan accepting Retailer of the Year national award in May)
As mentioned here on Tuesday, when the West Seattle Grand Parade rolls onto California Avenue SW at SW Lander this Saturday at 11 am, Easy Street Records and Café proprietor Matt Vaughan will be riding in a Corvette Marque Club convertible as 2026 Grand Marshal. Parade organizers asked him to share reflections on what that’ll be like; here’s what he wrote:
I started working on California Ave when I was 16 years old, back in 1984, at Penny Lane Records (where the great men’s-clothing store Mystery Made is now, 4537 California Ave SW) . I then opened my own store in late ’87 and moved it where it is today in August of 1989. I’ve witnessed almost every West Seattle Grand Parade since, 5 decades worth.
California Ave has been my main street; there’s not a street anywhere in the world that I’ve travelled up and down more, that has brought me more friendly smiles, waves, and good times. My kids have gone to Madison Middle School and West Seattle High School. My wife Kisha is a fitness instructor at Inspire. There are so many great businesses all along California Ave. Family dinners, date nights, watching ball games with friends, book stores, grocery stores, delis, ice cream, coffees, wine shops, beers…I really don’t need to leave. To be the Grand Marshal of this year’s parade is so cool. I didn’t think I was old enough to be considered, but ok, I accept.
This parade has got to be one of the longest running in the state. I heard 1934, originally started by the American Legion. There are some other fun parades throughout King County, but many of them are corporate=sponsored. This isn’t. It’s truly a parade for the people, by the people. The Rotary Club of West Seattle puts this parade on. That organization is doing such great work. They create scholarships for our youth, toy drives for our youngsters, they help fund our local public-school music departments, as well as the West Seattle Big Band. Beyond all this, they are one of the great networking organizations for all of our small businesses in the area. If you are thinking of opening a small business, the Rotary Club can be of great service.
Youth, music, parade ! I’m in. Hope they got a Corvette for me. This is such a great honor; thanks to all that organize this annual event. Proud to live in West Seattle, raise a family here, and run a business here.
He’ll be riding right past that business – and its famous marquee – Saturday morning, July 18, in a parade with 85+ entries, including marching bands, folkloric dancers, dancing drill teams, costumed characters, community groups, service clubs, sports teams, cheer squads, classic cars, and more! There are great places to watch all along the route, which this year will have four announcing stands – California near the parade’s start, California at Charlestown, California north of Oregon at the Eagles’ HQ, and California/Alaska. More previews tomorrow – then on Saturday, we’ll see you at the parade!
We’re continuing West Seattle Grand Parade previews, looking ahead to Saturday’s big event (rolling down California SW from SW Lander to SW Edmunds, 11 am, preceded by the Float Dodger 5K at 9:30 am). From the 85+ parade entries, some ‘wild’ sights to see:
(WSB photo, 2025 West Seattle Grand Parade)
–West Seattle Mrs. Ropers – Caftans, wigs, and bags will abound as these characters romp down the street
–Seattle Art Cars – Of all the vehicles that are signed up to be part of the parade, these will likely be the wildest.
–Seafair Clowns – The Pirates get much of the spotlight but these cavorting clowns are usually the biggest Seafair entry in the parade.
–Seattle Police Motorcycle Drill Team – Keep your feet out of the street!
–Orca Network Parade Pod – Among all the wildlife that graces us here around Puget Sound, killer whales are the top of the lineup. This advocacy group/sighting network will be marching.
–Westside School “Swimming Salmon” – More wildlife – bringing a new meaning to “school of fish.”
West Seattle is one of just a few neighborhoods in the city that still has its own summer parade; enjoy yours this Saturday – presented by the West Seattle Rotary Service Foundation and produced by a small army of devoted volunteers! (More previews tomorrow.)
Thanks to Al for the photo of a truck bearing “no parking” signs arriving this morning in The Admiral District, start of the route for Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade and Float Dodger 5K. Both start in Admiral and head southbound on California (the parade disperses after reaching SW Edmunds, but the 5K is round trip). The parking restrictions will take effect early Saturday morning, and they are enforced – tow trucks are unfortunately usually busy that morning – so if you would usually be parking along the parade route on California, watch for the signs and don’t ignore them! The street closure on California starts at 8 am.
If you’re not familiar with the Float Dodger 5K, it’s a pre-parade run/walk in the spirit of the Seafair Torchlight Run preceding the Torchlight Parade. West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) presents it as a fundraiser for the West Seattle Food Bank, so participants are doing good while having a good time. (Costumes encouraged!) Go here to register. There’s also a free “kids dash” to get the morning going at 8:45 am.
Afterward, settle into your spot to watch the Grand Parade, official start time at California/Lander 11 am but the SPD Motorcycle Drill Team is usually a bit earlier, ~10:45 am. Next parade-entry preview later today/tonight!
(WSB file photo of Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team, expected to return to the WS parade this year)
The next big event of this West Seattle summer is just four days away – Saturday (July 18) the 2026 West Seattle Grand Parade, which rolls down California Avenue SW from SW Lander in The Admiral District, presented by the West Seattle Rotary Service Foundation and supported by volunteers and sponsors. You can watch from anywhere along the route.
We sat in on organizers’ lineup review last night, led by parade coordinator Michelle Edwards, to get the toplines on what you can expect. So far, about 85 entries are registered – this is a community parade, so participants are not charged (unlike some parades) except for commercial and political entries, which pay a nominal fee. This year’s topline sponsor is STS Construction (which is also a WSB sponsor), which along with 8 other sponsors will be thanked with banners toward the parade’s start. We’ll roll out multiple parade previews in the next few days. But first, 5 reasons to watch:
#1 – GRAND MARSHAL MATT VAUGHAN: Fan of Easy Street Records and Café? Parade organizers have chosen proprietor Matt Vaughan is this year’s grand marshal. More on that in an upcoming preview!
#2 – ORVILLE RUMMEL TROPHY WINNER DENIS SAPIRO – In case you missed it, here’s our report on this honoree!
#3 – FOUR ANNOUNCING STANDS – Ever gone to the parade but felt like you wanted to know a little more about the entries than what the banners and signs might say? This year for the first time, four announcing stands are planned along the route – Brian and Christa Callanan hold down the main one at California/Alaska; the other three will be at the West Seattle Eagles (California north of SW Oregon), California/Charlestown (with the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle), and near the start of the parade route on California between Lander and Stevens (with the Admiral Neighborhood Association)
#4 – THEY’RE BACK! One of Seattle’s most revered parade participants, the Seattle Chinese Community Girls’ Drill Team, is expected to return to the West Seattle Grand Parade this year.
More parade previews to come! The parade starts just before 11 am this Saturday; streets will close to traffic at 8.
(WSB photo, last March – Denis Sapiro at center, presenting grant to Summit Atlas Garden Club)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
When the West Seattle Grand Parade starts rolling down California Avenue SW from The Admiral District to The Junction next Saturday morning, Denis Sapiro will be riding toward the front of the parade as this year’s recipient of the Orville Rummel Trophy for Outstanding Service to the Community.
Denis is the president of the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle, one of the local service clubs that make life better in a thousand ways you likely are not aware of. A major Kiwanis focus is to help kids and teenagers. And Denis has helped generations of them – he’s been a Kiwanian for 56 years.
The Orville Rummel Trophy is named for the man who founded the parade in 1934 as then-commander of American Legion Post 160 and chair of the Hi-Yu Committee, which staged the now-defunct West Seattle Hi-Yu Summer festival. (After many years of presenting the parade, Post 160 turned it over to the West Seattle Rotary Service Foundation.) The award dates back to the parade’s golden anniversary – the first one was presented in 1984.
Back to our current recipient: Denis had been involved with Kiwanis before he came to Seattle in the ’70s, he nonetheless found the local club by accident, when he saw a mention of the club’s pancake breakfast on a reader board maintained by the late entrepreneur and community advocate Warren Lawless. The pancake breakfast is a hallowed Kiwanis Club of West Seattle tradition to this day, a traditional start to the holiday season, often launching the day that concludes with the West Seattle Junction Hometown Holidays tree lighting, incorporating not just a hearty breakfast but also Santa photos and a Toys for Tots drive.
His career was a form of community service as well; he came to Seattle to continue work he had done in California, “working on ships for safety and regulatory compliance.” Later in his career, he moved on to biological safety, including, in the ’80s, after the research that discovered that AIDS was viral, he worked for a company that developed test kits. He later co-founded a consulting firm that helped small and medium businesses deal with chemical safety, and that firm continued until just two years ago.
So Denis has even more time to devote to volunteer work, though he was already in pretty deep over the years – including working with Scout troops, the AARP tax-assistance program, efforts to remedy health challenges such as iodine deficiency in Vietnam, student Key Clubs, the West Seattle Food Bank, fundraising for nonprofits such as Northwest Hope and Healing and WestSide Baby. They offer scholarships to students.
(WSB photo, last December’s coat drive – that’s Denis at right)
And their work can be seemingly simple, person to person – for example, if you’re a West Seattle Farmers Market visitor, you’ve probably seen the Kiwanis booth at the south end in the cooler months, with activities from hot coffee to kids’ art to involvement in The Junction’s holiday-season coat drive. He is also proud of advocating for Kiwanis to stop limiting full membership to men.
If you talk with him about any or all of this, you’ll hear the passion in his voice. One good place to find him – besides the Grand Parade route on Saturday (11 am start at California/Lander) – is the monthly Kiwanis Club of West Seattle meeting, first Wednesday of each month. (They’re looking for a new location, now that the Great American Diner has closed. You can contact the club here.
PAST ORVILLE RUMMEL TROPHY WINNERS: Denis’s predecessors:
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
2024: Bianca Thomka and Neil Duncan
2025: Dan and Joanie Jacobs
(WSB photo from 2024 West Seattle Grand Parade, YMCA’s award-winning entry)
Before we return to Fourth of July coverage – a reminder that we’re exactly two weeks away from this year’s West Seattle Grand Parade! On Saturday, July 18, the parade proceeds southbound on California Avenue SW, starting at 11 am at SW Lander in The Admiral District and proceeding to SW Edmunds on the south end of The Junction. You can pick a viewing spot anywhere along the route to watch marching bands, performers, community organizations, schools, and other entries (the Seafair Pirates among them). The parade is presented by the Rotary Club of West Seattle Foundation, powered by volunteers, donations, and sponsorships. And if you really want to supercharge your day, you can run or walk in the Float Dodger 5K on the parade route before the parade – 9:30 am; thi is presented by West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) as a fundraiser for the West Seattle Food Bank – register here!
(Since it’s all about soccer right now, here’s Highline Premier FC in last year’s Grand Parade)
One month away from two big events on the same day – on Saturday, July 18. The West Seattle Grand Parade starts just before 11 am at California/Lander in the Admiral District and proceeds southbound on California all the way to SW Edmunds at the south end of The Junction. Before the parade, you can run or walk that route in the West Seattle Float Dodger 5K, which starts at 9:30 am (after a free “kids’ dash” at 8:45 am)mm.
(WSB file photo, past Float Dodgers arriving in The Junction)
The parade is presented by the West Seattle Rotary Foundation, and the 5K is organized by West Seattle Runner (both the Rotary and WSR are WSB sponsors) as a fundraiser for the West Seattle Food Bank. To run or walk in the 5K, register here; to watch the parade, just pick a spot along the route!
Some of the community organizations that participated in Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade already have been shown in our previous coverage, mostly in the list of winners. But we wanted to show you the others too – this is in order of where they were in the parade running order.
Scouting America, which has multiple local troops and packs:
Skunk Works Robotics, a regional organization for high-school students:
West Seattle Amateur Radio Club, whose members engage in a tremendous amount of community service, including preparedness work to support communication in case of catastrophe, and education:
West Seattle VFW, whose entry featured commander Steve Strand driving a 1943 Willys Jeep:
Nile Shriners, the regional chapter of the service fraternity best known for helping young burn victims:
Orca Network Parade Pod, representatives of the regional group that advocates for and shares sightings of whales (not just orcas!):
Girl Scouts of Western Washington, whose entry focused on the scouts’ affinity for camping:
DubSea Fish Sticks, which are more than a baseball team (as explained here):
RainWise helps eligible residents with rebates for installations like raingardens and cisterns that conserve water and reduce the stormwater load on the sewer system:
West Seattle/Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor), which offers a wide variety of programs for people of all ages at two locations in WS and other branches around the region:
Center for Active Living, focused on helping elders thrive, but also open to all ages:
Invest in Youth, which provides tutors for kids at some local schools:
West Seattle Food Bank Clothesline, the clothing bank that supports local families in need:
Softball champs!
West Seattle Indivisible and West Seattle Resist, local pro-democracy advocates who described their ~100 marchers as a “human float”:
West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the peninsula-wide business-advocacy group:
American Red Cross, which helps in times of trouble large and small:
A Cleaner Alki, founded by Erik Bell, an army of volunteers who tidy up far more than the beach (parade routes, for example!):
And the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle operated an announcing stand at California/Charlestown again this year:
We may yet have another gallery or two to share; browse our previous coverage here!
(Photo credits: Oliver Hamlin, Tracy Record)
Both Seattle Police and Seattle Fire were part of Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade:
That’s the SPD Motorcycle Drill Team, once an almost taken-for-granted feature in local parades, until the pandemic and staffing shortages. Last year they made a surprise, if small, comeback; this year, eight officers performed. Our video shows them toward the end of the parade route in The Junction; the voices are those of parade announcers Brian and Christa Callanan … SFD sent Engine 29 from the Admiral District’s Station 29, with some of its crew walking alongside:
We have yet more parade video and photos to roll out later today – see what we’ve already published by scrolling here!
When the West Seattle Grand Parade ends, the final phase of that group’s work begins – deciding the winners in a dozen categories, as well as the overall grand-prize winners. They are the parade’s volunteer judges, and along with that photo, we’ve received the list of their decisions about today’s ~90 parade entries! We’ve already published images of some of them, and will be adding more to this list in the hours ahead as we continue processing all the video and photos we have:
OVERALL GRAND PRIZE WINNERS:
1st Place: Seattle All-City Band
2nd Place: Electronettes Hi-Steppers Drill Team & Drumline
3rd Place: West Seattle Mrs. Ropers
CHEER TEAMS:
1st Place: West Seattle High School Co-Ed Cheer Team
2nd Place: Chief Sealth International High School Cheerleading
COMMUNITY DANCE TEAMS:
1st Place: Joyas Mestizas
2nd Place: Comerford Irish Dancers
3rd Place: West Seattle Irish Dance
MARCHING BANDS:
1st Place: Seattle All-City Band
2nd Place: The All-Star Drumline
3rd Place: Kennedy Catholic High School “Lancer” Marching Band and Color Guard
PERFORMING ACTS:
1st Place: Hi-Liners Musical Theatre
2nd Place: Seattle Chinese American Chamber of Commerce
3rd Place: Rain City Ropeworks Jump Rope Team
CARS AND ANTIQUE CARS:
1st Place: Corvette Marque Club
2nd Place: STS Construction
3rd Place: 1942 American-LaFrance Fire Engine
COMMUNITY YOUTH:
1st Place: Southside Revolution Junior Roller Derby
2nd Place: Endolyne Children’s Choir
3rd Place: Highline Premier FC
COMMERCIAL:
1st Place: Dragonfly West Seattle
2nd Place: Airport Towing, Burien Towing, & Columbia Towing
3rd Place: Can Doo Pet Waste Service
COMMUNITY ADULT:
1st Place: West Seattle Mrs. Ropers
2nd Place: F3 Seattle
3rd Place: West Seattle Lions Club
DRILL TEAM SENIOR:
1st Place: Electronettes Hi-Steppers Drillteam & Drumline
2nd Place: Rhapsody Winterguard
3rd Place: Evergreen Drill Team
DRILL TEAM JUNIOR:
1st Place: Babynettes Drill Team (Jr. Electronettes team)
2nd Place: Daughters of Royalty Drill & Dance Ensemble
CONVEYED FLOAT:
1st Place: Holy Rosary School
2nd Place: Calvary Chapel West Seattle
SEAFAIR:
1st Place: Seattle Seafair Pirates
2nd Place: Seattle Seafair Clowns
3rd Place: Seattle Commodores
Again, we’ll be adding photos and video for as many of the winners as we can – and we have more parade scenes to come beyond this list, too! (We should note that the Rotary Club of West Seattle Foundation presents the parade, and community sponsors help cover the costs, which are considerable; volunteer power is vital, too.)
Photo credits: Most by Oliver Hamlin for WSB. A few photos, plus the videos, by Tracy Record. Others as credited.
You don’t generally see individual Seattle Public Schools bands in summer parades because musicians from schools around the city join forces for the All-City Band, which not only appeared in today’s West Seattle Grand Parade, as shown in our video above, but also is practicing on the peninsula this year – at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex – since Memorial Stadium is out of commission for its overhaul. This also means ACB will host Band Jam here this year, next Friday (July 25) – a showcase of bands as well as a practice for those who are in the Seafair Torchlight Parade – more on Band Jam later. Other school groups in today’s Grand Parade included, up from Burien, the Kennedy Catholic High School Marching Band:
Our area’s two largest high schools both had cheer teams in the parade – here’s West Seattle High School:
And Chief Sealth International High School:
When Holy Rosary School went by with its float, we noted about 100 people walking alongside!
And Hope Lutheran School brought along its eagle mascot:
Next up – the parade judges’ winning picks!
(First and third photos by Oliver Hamlin for WSB)
For more than a decade, we’ve photographed Lou Cutler walking or running. Today, he was riding … in a convertible from the Corvette Marque Club, as Grand Marshal of the 2025 West Seattle Grand Parade. Lou, a retired P-E teacher, was honored primarily for his many years volunteering with and raising money for Make-A-Wish, which grants wishes to seriously ill children.
Lou’s “Make-A-Wish Friends” walked behind his car to raise awareness that you can help too (here’s how to volunteer, and here’s how to support MAW through Lou’s latest fundraiser).
Also riding in a convertible as parade honorees, Joanie Jacobs and Dan Jacobs of the Admiral Neighborhood Association (as well as many other community endeavors):
The West Seattle Grand Parade Committee chose them as this year’s recipients of the Orville Rummel Trophy for Outstanding Service to the Community; Mr. Rummel was the parade’s founder, and our story about last year’s honorees includes a list of those who’ve received it dating back to 1984 (including WSB in 2010). The Jacobs’ focus has been on community connections, and that was in evidence during this stop along the parade route:
They also got two turns riding in today’s parade, turning up toward parade’s end atop the Seafair Pirates‘ Moby Duck.
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
More parade reports ahead!
The West Seattle Grand Parade is happening now, with SPD’s motorcycle unit – eight officers this year – having just headed south on California from the parade starting point at Lander, by the north end of Hiawatha. The rest of the 90+ entries will start walking, rolling, etc. soon too. If you’re not settled in to watch the parade, remember that California is closed from Admiral to the south end of The Junction, and buses are rerouted, until the parade is over – we’re covering it from our usual spot near the start (with team members elsewhere too) and will update when it wraps up here and elsewhere; usually the street is reopened section by section.
12:20 PM: After an hour and a half, the parade is over in Admiral – with parade coordinator Michelle Edwards riding down the route at the end – but it continues southbound to The Junction for a while longer – we’ll be following so we can update when it’s concluded there too. And then – lots more coverage to come, with photos and video.
1:15 PM: Done in The Junction too,
It wouldn’t be West Seattle Grand Parade Eve if Potter Construction didn’t send a photo of their entry – a brightly decorated work truck. Potter is a longtime WSB sponsor and also a parade sponsor; proprietor Gary Potter also is a member of the Rotary Club of West Seattle, which presents the parade. It follows the Float Dodger 5K, presented by West Seattle Runner (also a WSB sponsor) as a fundraiser for the West Seattle Food Bank (not too late to register to run or walk in the 5K!). We’ve been previewing all this all week, and including parking/road-closure reminders in our daily traffic roundups, but here’s one more look at what you should know:
PARADE ROUTE: Southbound on California Avenue SW from Lander to Edmunds.
PARKING RESTRICTIONS: The signs have been up for days and they cover more ground than the parade route, including side streets, for staging and detour reasons. So if you see a no-parking sign, pay attention – starting at 7 am tomorrow, the restrictions are in effect, and if you try to get away with ignoring them, you are at major risk of being towed – the streets need to be clear for safety reasons.
STREET CLOSURE AND PARADE/5K START: California closes south of Admiral fairly early in the morning too, with parade entries starting to arrive and getting directed to their staging zone (entries enter the parade route from three directions, as parade coordinator Michelle Edwards and assistants greenlight them). The route has to be clear by the time the Float Dodger starts at 9:30 am, and participants in turn have to be off the route so the SPD Motorcycle Drill Team can get going around 10:45. The other motorcyclist you’ll see is Jim Edwards, past parade coordinator and current safety/communication leader, checking the route and staying in touch with the ham-radio operators reporting in on how things are looking along the route.
RANDOM THINGS TO KNOW: The parade is an official Seafair-sanctioned event, so near the start of the route, you’ll see some of their seasoned parade personnel helping out (the Seafair Clowns, Seafair Commodores, and Seafair Pirates are in the parade too) … Speaking of which, the Pirates usually fire their cannon multiple times along the way, so even if you’re not on or near the parade route, you’ll hear those blasts …The Seafair Clowns have some sirens and horns too, so they can be kind of loud … Three announcing stations are expected this time – Brian and Christa Callanan at California/Alaska, the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle at California/Charlestown, and the West Seattle Eagles at California/Genesee … and there are official watch parties at various businesses on California this time, starting at West Seattle Realty (2715 California SW; WSB sponsor) and heading southward (including, on the same block, post-Float Dodger, at West Seattle Runner [2743 California SW; WSB sponsor]) … Be sure to cheer for parade honorees riding toward the start – grand marshal Lou Cutler and Orville Rommel Trophy winners Dan and Joanie Jacobs … We’ll have plenty of parade coverage tomorrow – if you’re going, see you there!
If your group, school, team, business (etc.) has a float in Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade, it’s definitely crunch time for float-building! Above, Cindi sent that photo of the West Seattle Amateur Radio Club‘s float-in-progress (pickup-truck-borne). The WSARC has another role during the parade, as we’ve mentioned before – ham operators assist with communication, coordination, and safety up and down the parade route, before, during, and after. WSARC is one of more than a dozen community groups in the parade; more than a dozen sports-related groups will be in it too; so will eight dance and drill groups; and six music groups. Those aren’t all the types of entries you’ll see – in all, the parade lineup currently holds more than 90 entries, leading off with the Seattle Police Motorcycle Drill Team (building back, with at least eight officers this year) departing California south of Lander at about 10:45 am Saturday, headed southbound to The Junction. All of California from Admiral to Edmunds closes for the parade, and parking restrictions (stretching beyond those boundaries – you should have seen the signs by now) kick in around 7 am (you will be towed, so don’t risk it). There are official “parade watch parties” at some businesses this year (we’ve added one to the list, hosted by West Seattle Runner, which presents the pre-parade Float Dodger 5K – if you’re having one that’s not listed but is open to the public, let the parade team and us know – westseattleparade@gmail.com and westseattleblog@gmail.com. See you Saturday!
Saturday’s doubleheader is getting ever closer – you can run or walk the Float Dodger 5K, and then watch (if you don’t happen to be among the hundreds of people set to participate) the West Seattle Grand Parade! We have a few more notes tonight, looking ahead:
(WSB file photo)
FLOAT DODGER 5K: Still time to register and avoid the last-minute price increase! The 5K starts from the field at Hiawatha at 9:30 am Saturday (July 19). Even if you’re not running/walking, come down early and visit the booths – among them, the West Seattle Food Bank, to which West Seattle Runner (which presents Float Dodger) donates proceeds. They’re offering an extra way to support the WSFB (which needs it more than ever) – a new raffle for $5/ticket, with your chance to win tickets to the September 25 Taste of West Seattle. (The WSFB’s other raffle, the Summer Raffle with prizes from local businesses, sold out for the first time ever!) Bring your $5 and look for the WSFB tent at Hiawatha on Saturday morning. And if you want to register for the Float Dodger 5K, do that here!
(WSB photo, 2024 Grand Parade)
WEST SEATTLE GRAND PARADE: Official parade start time from California/Lander is 11 am, but the leadoff group, the Seattle Police Motorcycle Drill Team, will likely start at about 10:45 am. They’re expecting at least eight motorcycle officers this year, twice the size of the comeback unit last year. One big decision if you haven’t made it already is where to watch – this year there’s an official list of “watch parties” – including:
Cherry Consignment
Falafel Salam
Hotwire Coffee
Sebastiano’s Natural Wines
WEND Jewelry
West Seattle Realty
One of those businesses has an entry in the parade too – Falafel Salam. Parade coordinator Michelle Edwards explains that the businesses on the list “are the businesses that the West Seattle Grand Parade Committee is currently aware of having and promoting a parade watch party at their business. There may be others that we don’t know about, but we are excited to see so many businesses bringing the community together for the parade and would love to know if anyone else is having one!” Email westseattleparade@gmail.com (and tell us too!). … For previous parade previews, click “West Seattle Grand Parade” under the headline and scroll through our archive!
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