(Vancouver, B.C. Police Motorcycle Drill Team in 2018 West Seattle Grand Parade – they’re back this year)

We’re counting down to Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade, which starts at California/Lander at 11 am and heads south to The Junction. Tonight we sat in on the lineup meeting, during which the parade’s longtime volunteer coordinators arrange the order of entries – there’s an art to everything from making sure the marching bands and drill teams are evenly spaced, to deciding who’s parading immediately before and after the Seafair Pirates! (Earplugs ahoy.) And we learned about a new feature this year: An extra “reviewing stand” at California/Charlestown. Traditionally the only place you can hear the parade announced as it passes is in the heart of The Junction – that continues this year, with Brian and Christa Callanan your announcing team there, but they’ve also added announcing at California/Charlestown, where Ron Zuber will be at the mike. ~75 entries in the parade – more previews every day this week!

Thanks to Mark Hofkes for the video of the All-City Band marching at Seattle Center tonight, getting ready for a busy parade-and-more season that includes the July 20th West Seattle Grand Parade. Six days after the parade, you’ll see them in West Seattle again – the All-City Band Jam returns to Southwest Athletic Complex at 6:30 pm Friday, July 26th, after SWAC work sent it to an off-peninsula venue last year. It’s a showcase/tune-up the night before the Seafair Torchlight Parade, with local and regional marching bands. First gig of the year for ACB, which includes student musicians from all over the city, is this Saturday at the Redmond Derby Days Parade.

(WSB photo from April)

This spring, philanthropist Adah Rhodes Cruzen was honored as Westsider of the Year by the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce. Now, another honor – she will ride in the West Seattle Grand Parade on July 20th as this year’s recipient of the Orville Rummel Trophy for Outstanding Service to the Community. The West Seattle Rotary Club Foundation presents the parade and just announced Adah Cruzen as the recipient, as well as announcing Carl Blake – of bakery fame – as this year’s Grand Marshal. The parade runs southbound on California SW from Lander to Edmunds starting at 11 am Saturday, July 20th, and you can cheer for the honorees in advance as the awards are presented at next Tuesday’s West Seattle Big Band Concert in the Park (7 pm July 16th on the east lawn at Hiawatha Community Center, Walnut/Lander).

P.S. This will actually be Adah Cruzen’s second Grand Parade ride with the Rummel Trophy – in 2014, her husband Earl Cruzen was the honoree but had to stay home on doctor’s orders, so she filled in:

(July 2014 photo by Steve Fuller)

Mr. Cruzen died in 2017.

These photos from Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade are a shoutout to some of the younger participants who we haven’t shown so far. Above, West Seattle Bengals football players were a crowd favorite. Below, another group of young athletes, the Southside Revolution roller-derby skaters, rolled down the route:

The Mexican-Folklorico youth group Joyas Mestizas joined the parade again this year:

Many scouts, too, including this group from the Baden-Powell Service Association:

And as mentioned earlier in our coverage, Boy Scout Troop 284 provided the honor guard to lead this year’s Grand Parade:

The parade is produced by the West Seattle Rotary Service Foundation. Still more to show! And if you enjoy parades in general – the Jubilee Days Parade is happening today in White Center, 11 am start from 16th SW/SW 112th, heading north on 16th SW to SW 100th.

(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)

It wasn’t all about the wheels for the Vancouver B.C. Police Motorcycle Drill Team‘s annual visit to ride in the West Seattle Grand Parade. In The Junction, where the riding ended for Vancouver and their Seattle Police counterparts, there was time to get up close and personal. Not just with the fans.

There were a lot of special things about Saturday.

VPD is celebrating its centennial. SPD, we’re told, has someone retiring.

Also seen on the route, though not with a motorcycle, Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis.

And the “other” two-wheeled SPD officers:

P.S. West Seattle’s parade is the only one outside Canada in which the Vancouver team participates.

Next set of photos – VIPs of the West Seattle Grand Parade! Grand Marshal Lora Swift (backstory here) was bubbly:

Also effervescent, with an outsize smile, Orville Rummel Trophy for Outstanding Service to the Community recipient Velko Vitalich (backstory here):

Newly announced member of this year’s Seafair Scholarship Program for Women, former West Seattle Hi-Yu Senior Court Queen Kelly Crum (backstory here), rode atop the Seafair Commodores‘ landgoing yacht:

Announcing the parade for the first time, West Seattle-residing Seattle Channel journalist/host Brian Callanan (with wife Christa Callanan):

Still a few more parade roundups to come!

(At left, parade chair Keith Hughes; at right, parade coordinator Michelle Edwards; center are Dolls and Gents Drill Team reps accepting their trophies)

Our West Seattle Grand Parade coverage continues! Received from Barbara Edwards and the West Seattle Parade Judges Committee, the list of award winners in today’s parade:

Overall Grand Prize Winners.

1st Place: All-City Band

2nd Place: Dolls and Gents Drill Team and Drumline

3rd Place: Electronettes Drill Team and Drum Squad

Category Winners:

Marching Bands
1st Place: All City Marching Band (video above)

2nd Place: Kennedy High School Marching Band

Commercial

1st Place: Little Gym of West Seattle

2nd Place: King County Metro Transit
3rd Place: College Hunks Hauling Junk

Performing Acts

1st Place: Seafair Pirates
2nd Place: Seattle Seafair Clowns

3rd Place: West City Rope Ninjas and Rope Works

Cars and Motorcycles

1st Place: West Seattle Lions Club

2nd Place: 1942 American LaFrance Fire Truck
3rd Place: Senior Center of West Seattle

Drill Teams Sr.
1st Place: Dolls and Gents Drill Team and Drumline (video above)
2nd Place: Electronettes Drill Team and Drummer Squad (video above)
3rd Place: Washington Diamonds Drill Team and Drumline

Drill Teams Jr.

1st Place: Baby Dolls Drill Team
2nd Place: Butterfly Electronettes Drill Team
3rd Place: Washington Diamonds Drill Team Jr.

Community

1st Place: West Seattle High School Cheer

2nd Place: Hope Lutheran Church
3rd Place: Cub/Boy Scouts of America Pack 282

Floats – Community

1st Place: Daffodil Festival

2nd Place: Fathoms of Fun Port Orchard
3rd Place: Marysville Strawberry Festival

Floats – Conveyed and Small Community

1st Place: West Seattle Lions Club

2nd Place: Holy Rosary School

Thanks to the parade team for sharing photos of some of the awards being accepted; otherwise, all photos/videos above are ours. In the hours ahead, we will add to this report with photos/video of more of the winners, and we’ll publish several other parade roundups, too.

10:49 AM: The 2018 West Seattle Grand Parade is on! The Seattle Police Motorcycle Drill Team has taken off, with the Vancouver B.C. PD motorcycles following – and then after a bit of a pause, the rest of the parade (with the PAWrade in The Junction in the meantime).

11:11 AM: And now that the motorcycle teams have made it far enough down the route, the rest of the parade has begun, with the Troop 284 honor guard:

Watch our Twitter feed for updates (you can access it via the Web – you don’t have to be a Twitter member); we’ll also update this report when the parade has concluded and California SW has reopened.

12:11 PM: After an hour, the parade has ended at the start line – the parade coordinators, judges, and chair are traveling down the street at the end. But it’ll be a while until the conclusion in The Junction (we have a crew there too).

1:10 PM: The parade is now over at the ending point (California/Edmunds), too. As always, lots more coverage to come in separate reports, with photos and video.

9:48 AM: Before the West Seattle Grand Parade – the preparations. Including clearing the route – those “NO PARKING” signs are serious business, and after two tow trucks headed southbound on California, one returned with that ReachNow car on the hook. Parking restrictions are in place on some side streets, too. Meantime, just north of the parade route …

The Seafair Pirates are making their pre-parade appearance at Brookdale Admiral Heights, which hosts visiting “royalty” for a special breakfast. They will of course “sail” the parade route in their trusty landlubbing vessel Moby Duck, currently parked outside Brookdale. Back on the parade route:

Michelle Edwards and Jim Edwards – who rides the route before, during, and after, coordinating communication with amateur-radio operators – of the parade-coordination team were conferring, steps from the tent bearing the logo of the Rotary Club of West Seattle, which presents the parade. Also present, SFD and SPD – Engine 29 from nearby Ferry Avenue SW is a parade entry.

We also saw Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Steve Strand, who, while currently in his SPD uniform, will be changing pre-parade, he tells us, to ride as commander of the West Seattle VFW post.

Remember that California is now closed along the route, south of Admiral to north of Edmunds, and will be until the parade concludes around 1 pm. More updates to come!

10:20 AM: Motorcycles are here:

This is the only US appearance for the Vancouver B.C. PD drill team every year. They’ll follow the SPD team.

10:35 AM: The motorcycles haven’t left yet. We’ve seen another car towed, though! Still room to sit, even here at the head end of the route – even on the Hiawatha slope over the sidewalk.

We’ll post a separate story once the parade has begun, and we’ll also add a few more pre-parade photos to this one later.

Just hours until this year’s West Seattle Grand Parade (motorcycles ~10:30, rest of the parade 11, starting at California/Lander)! A few night-before notes:

HONOR GUARD: This year, instead of a military honor guard, you’ll see a Boy Scout honor guard carrying the flags at the start of the parade – Troop 284.

GETTING READY: Longtime WSB sponsor Potter Construction is also a Grand Parade sponsor and entry, and sent the photo after decorating the truck that’ll roll down the route tomorrow morning.

PREPARING FOR THE PAWrade: Also in prep mode – Newman, official spokesdog of the first-ever West Seattle PAWrade:

Prizes! Glory! And/or, just plain fun. You and your dog(s) can just show up at the starting spot – 4400 California SW – after 10:15 but before 11 am tomorrow and be part of the PAWrade right before the Grand Parade. Here’s the latest info.

ROAD REMINDERS: California SW will be closed, from just south of Admiral Way to SW Edmunds, from mid-morning until all parade entries have cleared the route (usually just after 1 pm). Side streets will be used for staging, so if you’re seeing parking restrictions tonight, heed those too. Bus reroutes are all linked from the Metro alerts page.

The West Seattle Grand Parade doesn’t just “happen.”

Before the 70+ entries – and hundreds of participants – roar, roll, and march down California SW this Saturday (July 21st), a lot of planning and coordination is required. Including the lineup meeting, which happened at American Legion Post 160 in The Triangle this past Monday night.

Above are key behind-the-scenes people who made that happen and who will be out Saturday ensuring it goes well – from left, standing, Michelle Edwards, Barbara Edwards, Jim Edwards, Meredith Laws, with Keith Hughes in front – plus, attending this time by phone, Dave Vague. (Michelle is leading the coordination this year, with Jim and Dave; Keith is parade chair for the parade-presenting organization Rotary Club of West Seattle, of which Meredith is the new president.)

We sat in on the lineup meeting again this year and while the parade continues to take shape in the days after it, here are some toplines so far:

*1 Seattle Fire engine
*1 classic privately owned fire truck
*Two police motorcycle drill teams (including the only U.S. appearance by Vancouver, B.C., PD, as usual)
*Two marching bands (All-City Band, which includes musicians from local public schools, and Kennedy HS)
*Three visiting floats
*Scout groups
*Youth sports teams
*Schools
*Drill teams
*Jump-ropers
*Community organizations
*Local businesses
*Cultural groups
*Candidates
*VIPs, including, as already announced, Grand Marshal Lora Swift and Orville Rummel Trophy winner Velko Vitalich
*The full Seafair parade contingent, including Pirates, Clowns, the court, and more

What’s new this year: The PAWrade (still time for you to register – or, just show up at California/Genesee with your pup on Saturday morning!)

What you won’t see: The pre-parade Float Dodger 5K is on hiatus this year.

Who’s announcing: If you’re watching in The Junction, you’ll hear the voice of West Seattle’s own longtime broadcaster/journalist Brian Callanan.

Where to watch: Anywhere along the route! You can see the map on the official parade website. (Remember that California SW along the route will be closed by midmorning, and there are parking restrictions on adjacent streets too, especially the staging streets near the start of the route.)

How long does it last? The motorcycles go first, sometime after 10:30 am. The PAWrade will start from California/Genesee at 11 am. The parade generally ends around 1 pm (sooner of course if you’re watching toward the start of the route in The Admiral District).

The VIPs out of the spotlight: Besides the parade coordinators and assistants at the start of the route – including help from Seafair – the West Seattle Amateur Radio Club will have radio operators all along the route (led by Jim Edwards, who travels the route on motorcycle) in constant communication. And the judges (led by Barbara Edwards) will be at various spots along the route – the winners are announced later in the day and as always, we’ll publish the list.

See you at the Grand Parade – a West Seattle tradition since 1934!

P.S. Saturday’s bus reroutes are linked here.

(Photo from 2017 West Seattle Grand Parade)

Before we get going with today’s West Seattle Summer Fest coverage – and whatever other news the day brings – we want to remind you about next Saturday’s mega-event: The 2018 West Seattle Grand Parade, preceded by the first-ever PAWrade. The parade’s official start time is 11 am, California/Lander, heading southbound to California/Edmunds, but if you’re watching at or near the start of the route, you’ll want to be in place sooner for the Seattle Police and Vancouver, B.C., Police Motorcycle Drill Teams, which start between 10:30 and 11 to zoom down the parade route before the rest of the parade. And in The Junction, you and your dog are invited to be part of the first-ever PAWrade, which will bark its way down California SW from Genesee to Edmunds at 11 am, between the motorcycles and the Grand Parade. Want to be part of the PAWrade? Register here now, so you don’t have to worry about it on parade day! As for the Grand Parade itself – presented by the West Seattle Rotary Service Foundation: As we’ve reported, Lora Swift is the Grand Marshal, and Velko Vitalich is the Orville Rummel Trophy winner, so you’ll see them riding toward . If you’re watching in The Junction, you’ll hear West Seattle’s own award-winning broadcaster/journalist Brian Callanan announce the parade. If you’re not a parade fan, at least remember that you’ll have to stay off California SW until it’s over (if everything goes off on time, the last entries usually pass the end of the route sometime after 1 pm), and there’ll be parking restrictions on the side streets too. More previews in the days ahead!

(WSB photo, 2017)

Every summer, two honorees are chosen to ride toward the start of the West Seattle Grand Parade – the Grand Marshal (as announced earlier this week, Lora Swift) and the winner of the Orville Rummel Trophy for Outstanding Service to the Community. This year’s Orville Rummel Trophy recipient has just been announced: Velko Vitalich, best known as West Seattle High School‘s baseball coach for 31 years – a run that just ended a year ago.

Coach Velko’s retirement didn’t start then, though – he stayed on at WSHS (his alma mater, Class of 1973) to coach golf this past season. He’ll be formally presented with the trophy at next Tuesday’s West Seattle Big Band Concert in the Park (co-sponsored by WSB), 7 pm July 17th on the east lawn at Hiawatha Community Center, and then you can cheer for him as he rides down the parade route four days later, on Saturday, July 21st (starting at 11 am, southbound on California SW from SW Lander in Admiral to SW Edmunds in The Junction). The parade is presented by the West Seattle Rotary Service Foundation and coordinated by local volunteers.

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, in 2010. The award was first presented in 1984. Here’s the full list of recipients along the way:

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

What a year for Lora Swift! Just a little past halfway into 2018, she’s already scored two major local honors – first, Westsider of the Year, as awarded by the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, and now, we’ve learned she’s been chosen as Grand Marshal of the West Seattle Grand Parade (coming up July 21st)! You might know her best as executive director of the West Seattle Junction Association, but that’s just one of the many hats (and tiaras!) Lora has worn in the community. For more than a decade, she was proprietor of Hotwire Online Coffeehouse at the north end of The Junction; there, she founded what’s now the West Seattle Outdoor Movies series, which brings hundreds of people together on summer Saturday nights, and she’s also masterminded the West Seattle Art Walk among other fab community events. Right now, as news of her parade honor is announced, she’s coordinating the peninsula’s biggest party, West Seattle Summer Fest, Friday-Sunday (July 13th-15th) in the heart of The Junction. And then – maybe she can at least take a quick break to bask in the cheers along the parade route when she rides as Grand Marshal, starting at 11 am Saturday, July 21st, southbound on California SW from Lander to Edmunds. (WSB photo from May, as Lora volunteered at West Seattle Food Bank gala)

(2017 West Seattle Grand Parade WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)

Here in the heart of summer, there’s so much going on, we spend almost as much time on reminders (and calendar listings) as on coverage! Today, we want to start reminding you about the West Seattle Grand Parade, now exactly two weeks away, on Saturday, July 21st. Its official start time is 11 am, with the route running southbound on California SW from SW Lander in The Admiral District to SW Edmunds in The Junction, but if you’re watching at or near the start of the route, you’ll want to get in place sooner because the motorcycle drill teams head off down the route first, as early as 10:30 am. This is the ONLY parade in Seattle where you’ll see two police motorcycle drill teams – Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. (their only area appearance) Dozens of other entrants include local organizations and businesses as well as citywide parade favorites such as the All-City Band [photo above]. The parade is in its ninth (!) decade and is produced by the West Seattle Rotary Service Foundation, with a team of local volunteers coordinating, and support from Seafair, as it’s an officially sanctioned event. (Haven’t been to the parade before? Here’s one of our reports from last year, featuring the prize-winning entries, including lots of video. More specifics as the parade gets closer!)

P.S. New this year, as we’ve noted previously, you and your dog are invited to be part of the pre-parade PAWrade in The Junction! Meet up starting at 10:15 am at California and Genesee, and then PAWrade southbound through The Junction starting at 11. You can register that day BUT pre-registration is appreciated – you can do that online here. Free! Prizes!

One last gallery from Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade, before the weekend is completely over – more of the wheels!

That view is from @tweetbyvika – the motorcycle drill teams led the parade as usual. Our views were from ground level once they reached The Junction:

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Some walk, some march, some ride, some roll … however they get down the parade route, the people ARE the parade. So here are more of the hundreds who traveled down California SW at midday Saturday for this year’s West Seattle Grand Parade:

Those are the West Seattle Little League All-Stars who just won a state championship carried their banner down the route. And we saw a strong presence of Scouts — Girl Scouts …

… and Boy Scouts:

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