(2010 West Seattle Grand Parade photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
Is it worth at least a few dollars to you to save a West Seattle tradition?

Two months ago, the volunteers who run the West Seattle American Legion Post 160 Grand Parade sent up the first warning signal (WSB story here) that they will need financial help to bring back the decades-old tradition this year: Thousands of dollars worth of help that used to be provided by the city, to block off a mile-plus of California SW for the parade, is now something Post 160 is supposed to pay for. And since the parade does not charge entry fees – if it did, it would have to pay an even bigger bill for a costlier permit – that means a call for sponsors/donations.

In that February report, parade chair Dave Vague asked for ideas of how to raise the money. WSB commenter Jordan suggested using PayPal for donations. That’s now been set up – to take donations large and small.

Here is the webpage where you will find the donation link.

(Note that while the parade is NOT a West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival event, Hi-Yu has agreed to lend the Grand Parade its PayPal setup, so that’s what your receipt will reflect.)

Vague tells WSB they need to raise $4,000. As first noted in the February report, the road-closure barricades will cost $3,000. The parade permit will cost $500 (if they charged entry fees, it would be $2,000 more!). And they would like to have a bit of pad beyond that for potential expenses such as sign damage and a banner if major donors/sponsors emerge.

Speaking of that, they would still welcome sponsors – you can reach Vague through Post 160 at (206) 935-9407, or e-mail him: vagued@comcast.net.

Three months till this year’s parade (July 23) – provided the money can be found. Here’s the donation-page link again. You don’t have to have a PayPal account – you can use any major credit card.

P.S. The parade now has a Facebook page, too – “like” it here.

(WSB photo from 2010 West Seattle Grand Parade, by Christopher Boffoli)
Yet another city-budget shock wave is rippling tonight – this time, one that casts a cloud over a decades-old West Seattle summertime tradition.

American Legion Post 160, longtime sponsor of the midsummer West Seattle Grand Parade, has just started planning for this year’s parade, set for July 23rd, and has learned it’s facing a big new bill – not unlike the local youth-sports leagues that are suddenly paying thousands more than they used to.

Last year, we reported on the close call American Legion Post 160 and other summertime event sponsors had with a city “cost-recovery” proposal – at one point in May, it looked like events happening just weeks later might have to pay for their own traffic control, which the city has always picked up, and that could have cost the West Seattle Grand Parade $1,500 it didn’t have.

Given the short notice and big protests from other affected groups, the city decided to pull back for last year, while issuing a warning about this year’s budget. So now, it’s 2011. Post 160’s parade chair Dave Vague tells WSB, “Although the city has not changed its fee schedule for the parade, the Seattle DOT is now requiring us to handle all of our own No Parking signs. I asked one of the barricade companies for a bid and it is going to cost us $3,000 to put up all of the signs. Needless to say, this is too large a burden for the American Legion to take on by themselves now.”

The “no fee-schedule change” to which Vague refers cuts both ways. As explained in our story last year, while the obvious solution would seem to be for Post 160 to charge entry fees for commercial participants, they can’t; parades that charge entry fees are charged sharply higher permit fees. Right now, so that their permit fees stay low, there’s no fee for anyone to enter (though some donations are received).

So how to handle the $3,000? Vague says, Post 160 is turning to you for ideas and support:

We are looking to the West Seattle Community to help us raise the necessary funds for the parade or help us find a sponsor or sponsors to help us with the cost. If your readers would like to donate or have ideas on how we could raise the funds needed, they can contact the American Legion at (206) 935-9407 or write me at vagued@comcast.net.

(WSB photo from 2010 West Seattle Grand Parade, by Mindon Win)
As longtime fans of the West Seattle Grand Parade, and co-sponsor of multiple community events each year since we became a business, we have already said (as we did last year) that WSB will be first in line to be a sponsor if Post 160 decides to go that route. What’s your thought about the best solution? Let Post 160 know, and/or post a comment here.

Before the 75-plus entries in today’s two-hour West Seattle Grand Parade rolled, roared, marched, glid and strolled down the route, they gathered at/around the starting line, which is California/Lander – unpacking, arranging, in some cases, even posing for photos (particularly the most famous of the entries, like JP Patches). On assignment for WSB, Edgar Riebe of West Seattle-based Captive Eye Media roamed around behind the scenes in the pre-parade hours – the video above is the result! ADDED EARLY SUNDAY: And from inside our electric car as the parade began, here’s the first minute (shot by WSB editor TR) as we got the go-ahead to start rolling:

One thing we noticed, riding in a vehicle for the first time – people yelled and waved as they saw the signs on the side of the car, not the banner on the front (so the audio you hear doesn’t synch with the video – we had the camera pointed forward most of that minute). Thanks again to everyone who came out to see the parade; our coverage – before, during, after – is in the WSB West Seattle Grand Parade archive, newest to oldest.

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli – Daffodil Festival wins 2 categories)
We will continue adding photos/video to this progressively – but in case anybody’s waiting eagerly for the info, West Seattle Grand Parade co-coordinator Dave Vague just sent the list of judges’ picks from today’s parade:

(WSB video by Tracy Record – All-City Band, overall #2, marching band #1)

Overall Winners
1st Place __Daffodil Festival “Carousel of Spring”
2nd Place __Electronettes Jasslyn Diva’s Drill Team & Drum Squad
3rd Place __Seattle Schools All-City Marching Band

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli – Vancouver, B.C., PD, 1st place, motorcycles)

Motorcycles
1st Place __Vancouver Police Motorcycle Drill Team

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli – All-City Band, overall #2, marching band #1)

(Photo by Steve Mohundro – PNW Drumline, 2nd place, marching bands)

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli – JFK HS, 3rd place, marching bands)

Marching Bands
1st Place __Seattle Schools All-City Marching Band
2nd Place __Pacific NW Drumline
3rd Place __Kennedy Catholic High School Marching Band

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli – Seafair Clowns, 1st place, clowns/comics)

Clowns & Comics
1st Place __Seattle Seafair Clowns
2nd Place ___Ronald McDonald
3rd Place ___Keystone Kops

(Photo by Steve Mohundro – Lake City Western Vigilantes, performing acts, #1)

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli – Seafair Pirates, performing acts, #2)

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli – Evergreen Tang Soo Do, performing acts, #3)

Performing Acts
1st Place ____Lake City Vigilantes
2nd Place ____Seattle Seafair Pirates
3rd Place ____Evergreen Tang Soo Do

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli – Sweet Mahogany, junior drill teams, #1)

Drill Teams – Jr. & Cheer Squads
1st Place _____Sweet Mahogany Drill Team
2nd Place ____Electronettes Pretty Girls Drill Team
3rd Place ____Super Steppers Marching Team

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli – Electronettes JDs, senior drill teams, #1)

Drill Teams – Sr.
1st Place ___Electronettes Jasslyn Diva’s Drill Team & Drum Squad
2nd Place ___Chinese Community Girls Drill Team

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli – JP Patches, commercial, #2)

Commercial
1st Place _____Daystar Retirement Village
2nd Place ____Bill & Cynthia Reid/John L Scott Westwood & JP Patches
3rd Place ____Hadlock’s Towing

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli, OLG, community, #1)

Community
1st Place ___Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish & School
2nd Place ___Girl Scouts Chinook Service Unit #550
3rd Place ___WS Friend to Friend Volunteer Program

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli -LRFD, antique cars, #1)

Cars & Antique Cars
1st Place ____Last Resort Fire Department
2nd Place ___Lincoln Towing’s “Pink Toe Truck”
3rd Place ___Senior Center of West Seattle

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli -Marysville float, #2 in its category)

Floats – Motorized
1st Place (Legion Trophy) __Daffodil Festival “Carousel of Spring”
2nd Place (Alki Trophy) ___Marysville Strawberry Festival

(WSB video by Tracy Record)

Floats – Conveyed
1st Place (Festival Trophy)___Holy Rosary West Fest
2nd Place (Marshals Trophy)___ West Seattle Sportsmen’s Club

Dave notes that some regular entrants – Seattle Police and Fire, and West Seattle Hi-Yu – ask to be excluded from the judging (just in case you’re wondering why you don’t see them in the list). More parade coverage to come!

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli, substituted 3:17 pm for previous Twitpic by @zenbard)
The streets are reopening – now that the West Seattle Grand Parade is over for another year. We had a blast riding in the Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) loaned to us by MC Electric Vehicles (which is on the south side of downtown, by Goodwill) – it’s more traditional to ride in a convertible, but we wanted something electric-powered for the occasion! Got to watch most of the parade since we were the fifth entry out and done before the other 70-plus; will add a few photos shortly, with much more coverage to come a bit later. Our favorite iPhone photo taken just before it began – that’s the U.S. Coast Guard flyover, with the Color Guard and Post 160 Commander Chris Shea in the foreground:

And here’s a closer look at the chopper itself:

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Thanks to everybody who waved and yelled along the way – as the sign on the back of our vehicle read, “Thank YOU for being part of WSB” – !!! (And thanks to parade-presenting American Legion Post 160 for honoring WSB with the Orville Rummel Trophy – from what we learned about the other recipients while researching the story we published this morning, it’s awesome company.)

On California SW by the Admiral Safeway parking lot, Holy Rosary School volunteers were putting flowers on their WestFest entry for the West Seattle Grand Parade, which starts at 11 am. Not far away, this bubble-breathing dragon is getting ready for its star turn – we won’t spoil the surprise by showing you who’s towing it:

We got here just after 9, convoying with the mystery vehicle we’ll ride in the parade – spotted staked-out spots outside ArtsWest in The Junction along the way (and more than a few in other areas, including some whose “owners” were already in place):

Back up here at parade-start central, the Seafair parade marshals – more than 30 of them – are helping American Legion Post 160‘s Grand Parade coordinators get everybody arranged:

One of our later reports will have more behind-the-scenes glimpses; we have photojournalist Edgar Riebe here covering that side of the parade-day story; photojournalist Christopher Boffoli will be along the route to cover the parade itself. See our earlier previews (all archived here) for info on the route and times and some of who you’ll see – the action all starts at 11 am, though the motorcycle drill teams (Seattle followed by Vancouver, B.C.) scheduled to go down the route a bit sooner, so you’ll definitely want to be in place by 10:30; even The Junction, end of the line, will see parading soon after 11, since the Rotary Club of West Seattle-presented Kiddie Parade will travel south from California/Genesee at that point. Not sure if we’ll add more pre-parade pix here – but you can definitely watch our @westseattleblog Twitter feed (even if you’re not a Twitter member) for photos we’ll “tweet” before and during.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

In this morning’s West Seattle Grand Parade, your WSB co-publishers will be proudly carrying the Orville Rummel Trophy for Outstanding Service to the Community, bestowed by parade-sponsoring American Legion Post 160. It’s been awarded annually since 1984:

When parade organizers shared the news, they also observed that aside from the trophy itself, which each recipient gets to keep till the following summer, there wasn’t much written history about it. So we set out to see if we could take a swing at starting to change that.

Orville Rummel founded the parade back in 1934. The photo at left is from a framed, crinkled-but-treasured copy of the front page of what the logo declared to be the “West Seattle Herald Incorporating The West Seattle News,” published at the start of the Hi-Yu Festival, that same year. It hangs on the north wall of the American Legion Post 160 Hall in The Triangle; Rummel was the post’s commander, and chair of the Hi-Yu Committee, in 1934. Unfortunately, he’s not still around to tell his stories; online records show he died in Kitsap County right about Hi-Yu time in 1998 – July 16, to be exact – just a few weeks short of what would have been his 99th birthday.

Back in Orville Rummel’s heyday, the Legion stopped running Hi-Yu after a few years; it resumed as an independent effort in 1949, though Post 160 remains a Hi-Yu trustee.

Ahead, the list of a quarter-century-plus of winners. And then – we check in with two of the longtime West Seattle businesspeople who’ve been honored with the Orville Rummel Trophy.Read More

Just confirmed with the Seattle Seafair Clowns‘ own “Officer Lumpy” – a West Seattleite – that this year’s “Prince of Mirth” will be with them tomorrow in the American Legion Post 160-presented West Seattle Grand Parade. The Prince is a Duke – none other than local restaurateur Duke Moscrip, of Duke’s Chowder House fame. This year, as the Seafair Clowns’ announcement points out, Duke has been a Seafair hero, helping bail out first the hydro races and then the Seafair Pirates’ Landing (WSB coverage here). Last year, TV personality Jim Dever rode with them.

Tomorrow’s parade starts at 11 am from California/Lander in the Admiral District and continues south to California/Edmunds in The Junction. Any and all West Seattle kids are also invited to join in the Rotary Club of West Seattle-presented Kiddie Parade, leaving California/Genesee at 11 ahead of the main parade (with time to get back to your seat!). To see our previous previews – and coverage of previous years – check out the WSB West Seattle Grand Parade coverage archive (in reverse-chronological order).

(WSB photo from July 2008 at California/Lander, where the West Seattle Grand Parade begins)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Everybody loves a parade, it’s been said.

All you have to do is stake out your spot on the route, and it unfolds right in front of you – the honor guard, the bands, the drill teams, the floats, the royalty, the sign-wavers, the clowns … In all, more than 75 entries will travel California SW from the Admiral District to the south end of The Junction tomorrow morning (here’s the map), starting at 11 am, right after the Rotary Club of West Seattle-sponsored Kiddie Parade (all kids can join in!) strolls and rolls down the route from Genesee south.

But the West Seattle Grand Parade doesn’t just happen, much as co-coordinator Jim Edwards would try to have you believe otherwise. “It’s a juggernaut now,” he insists. “It would happen with or without us.”

He commented Monday night during a small but pivotal gathering that happens each year before the parade: The lineup meeting. At American Legion Post 160 in The Triangle – the organization that presents the parade every year (not Hi-Yu, though they’re an important participant every year) – Jim, co-coordinator Dave Vague, and parade chair Walt DeLong took two hours to finalize the parade running order.

Read More

Just two days till the American Legion Post 160-presented West Seattle Grand Parade rolls, marches, dances and glides down California SW from the Admiral District to The Junction. In the video above, we ask this year’s Grand Marshals, radio-turned-webcast personalities Marty Riemer and Jodi Brothers (both West Seattleites), to demonstrate the “parade wave” – and of course, the discussion veers off course. (Hopefully their parade-day convertible won’t.) More than 75 entries are set for the annual tradition, starting at 11 am – just pick a spot along the route, from the north edge of Hiawatha southward:

The purple-blue marker along the route is SW Genesee, starting point for the Rotary Club of West Seattle-presented Kiddie Parade, which all kids are invited to enter – signups start at 10 am Saturday, and the parade proceeds through The Junction right at 11, ahead of the rest of the parade (so there’s time to get back to your seat and watch everybody else!). Still more parade “sneak peeks” ahead between now and Saturday morning.

When you watch the Seattle Police Motorcycle Drill Team during the American Legion Post 160-presented West Seattle Grand Parade this Saturday, here’s something you might not realize: There are West Seattleites on the team! Cynthia shares this photo of Rob Blanco (left) and Drill Master John Bernasconi. As usual, the SPD motorcycles will be at the head of the parade – after the Rotary Club of West Seattle Kiddie Parade, and before the Vancouver, B.C., motorcycle squad – which starts at 11 am this Saturday. The parade route is along California SW from SW Lander (by Lafayette/Safeway) to SW Edmunds (end of the main Junction business district) – note that several side streets are part of the staging areas, with No Parking signs having been up for days now, and some buses will be rerouted that morning and part of the afternoon, too.

(WSB photo from July 2009)
While at American Legion Post 160 in The Triangle last night to sit in on the West Seattle Grand Parade lineup meeting, we were glad to hear that Art and Gloria Peters will be back for another year, riding in the parade. Our “behind the scenes” parade-planning story isn’t ready to publish just yet but there’s certainly still lots more to preview as Saturday’s parade (11 am, California/Lander to California/Edmunds) gets closer. The long-wed veterans are among the heroes, if you will, among the 75-plus parade entries. That category also includes the law-enforcement motorcycle drill teams – both the hometown heroes from Seattle PD, and the visitors from Vancouver, B.C.:

And unless there’s a last-minute emergency, you’ll see a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter like this one fly south over the parade route right around 11:

(July 2009 photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Again, the parade starts at 11 am this Saturday – and while the official route is California SW between SW Lander (Lafayette/Safeway) and SW Edmunds (end of The Junction’s main business district), you’ve probably noticed “no parking” signs on more than a few other streets – the parade staging zone, and bus re-routes, cover many more blocks. One more reminder – All kids are welcome in the Rotary Club of West Seattle Kiddie Parade, which travels California SW from SW Genesee to SW Edmunds right before the main parade, starting at 11 am (sign-ups at 10).

Seattle’s most famous clown, JP Patches – who was at the Westwood Village Street Fair in May (where Karen took the above photo) – is scheduled to be in the West Seattle Grand Parade (yes, the one many still call the Hi-Yu Parade) this Saturday (minus pugs). That’s part of what we can tell you after sitting in tonight on the parade-lineup session at American Legion Post 160, which puts on the annual event. Bill and Cynthia Reid from John L. Scott are bringing him to the parade as they’ve done in many years past. The lineup of more than 75 entries includes other traditional favorites – like the Seafair Pirates and Seattle All-City Band – will be there too; and for the first time in at least five years, according to parade co-coordinator Jim Edwards, the Daffodil Festival float will be up from Pierce County (but can it hold a candle to the award-winning West Seattle Hi-Yu float?). New this year: The Pacific Northwest Drumline. And this year, no matter where you are along the parade route (California/Lander to California/Edmunds) at the official 11 am start time, you should see something – the Rotary Club of West Seattle Kiddie Parade is scheduled to start from California/Genesee at 11 (instead of earlier as in years past; by the way, all kids welcome!) – by then, the Seattle Police Motorcycle Drill Team and Vancouver (B.C.) Police Motorcycle Drill Team will be at various points further north on the route, and then the rest of the parade will commence from California/Lander with the color guard right at 11, plus a U.S. Coast Guard flyover scheduled right over the California SW (if no emergencies call the chopper away) parade route. Grand Marshals this year: West Seattle-residing radio/online personalities Marty Riemer and Jodi Brothers. So what does it take for Jim, co-coordinator Dave Vague, and parade chair Walt DeLong to put the parade together? That’s part of our next parade preview tomorrow!

(July 2009 West Seattle Grand Parade photo by Patrick Sand)
That’s just one of many scenes from last year’s West Seattle American Legion Post 160 Grand Parade (its official name, not “Hi-Yu Parade” though the West Seattle Hi-Yu contingent is a popular participant!). This year’s edition is coming up July 24, from California/Lander to California/Edmunds as usual, and, also as usual, it’s a massive volunteer undertaking, as are most if not all of the other community parades around Seattle. And since it’s a free event, its organizers don’t exactly have a big pot of money on which to draw for expenses – which is why a recent announcement sparked so much concern: The city had recently started notifying parades that effective immediately, they would have to pick up the cost for no-parking signs and other standard trappings.

We heard about this from local organizers, and checked with SDOT. Communications director Rick Sheridan replied:

Based on the significant budget shortfall that the city is facing in this and future years, SDOT is reviewing all of its programs. In an era of tight budgets, SDOT believes it needs to carefully focus its limited resources. In previous years, the department placed traffic controls signs for community events and the city covered the expense. This year SDOT proposed that events needing these services should be responsible for covering the costs.

However, based on concerns raised by organizers of several community events about their ability to cover these costs on short notice, SDOT has reconsidered this decision for 2010. Program cuts for this year will not include reductions in event support and we will look for alternative midyear reductions.

But, Sheridan went on to say, this plan WILL be in next year’s budget. So here’s the challenge for the West Seattle parade and others: WS Parade Coordinator Jim Edwards explains they are stuck in a conundrum. Just charge entries a little more to cover the cost, you say? Problem is, they cannot charge for entries at all, without sharply raising their costs: Edwards explains that any parade charging for entries has to pay five times the permit fee of those that don’t.

The West Seattle parade usually gets a few monetary donations, which help cover costs, but otherwise, because of the permit prerequisite, everyone who enters the parade – and watches the parade – does so for free.

(July 2009 West Seattle Grand Parade photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Edwards says parade organizers would like to have the right to charge a fee to entries that use the parade as a marketing opportunity – commercial and political entries – without Post 160 having to pay for a costlier permit. If the rules were changed to allow that, it would help them cover what they expect will be at least a $1,500 added cost for the signage next year, if the new SDOT plan goes through.

It’s not that the parade’s been draining resources over the years without compensating the city at all; Edwards explains that the West Seattle parade already participates in the city’s “cost recovery” process, and has taken steps over the years to use fewer city resources: “Our original permit costs were upward of $1,500. But because we have a good community who cleans up the roadway at the end of the parade, our costs steadily decreased over the years. We reduced costs further by downsizing crowd estimates slightly as well. We further cut costs at the request of (police) by moving the parade south of Admiral Way.”

(Photo from July 2009 parade by Tracy Record)
The “cost recovery” process, he says, had been multidepartmental on the city side – but now with SDOT’s announcement, he wonders, “Are we now going to have each department instituting its own cost recovery process? Our parade is 1.5 miles. If you include assembly, dispersal, Metro bypasses, Emergency routes. We have signage on about 3.5 miles of roadway…. Our costs will be much higher than say the 2-block-long Magnolia parade.”

So for now, it’s on with this year’s parade as usual, but American Legion Post 160 and those who run Seattle’s other remaining community parades will be watching the city-budget process, to see how this shakes out.

“Knowing that this increased cost may be a possibility next year doesn’t make it any easier to pay, but at least we have time to figure out how,” Edwards says. “It would be our hope that the Special Events Committee makes changes to the rules and allows the community parades to charge a small fee to commercial and political entries in the parade, while still maintaining the free status to everyone else. … I would also hope that the portion of the permit that is (already) considered SDOT costs, (then) be removed from the permit fee. These fees were established under what the city called a cost-recovery program some 15 years ago or so. It was determined that we needed to pick up some of the costs that the city departments incurred from all these parades, hence the massive increase in permit costs.”

(West Seattle Sportsmen’s Club won the “Festival Trophy” in the Conveyed Float category)
ORIGINAL 5:14 PM SATURDAY REPORT: We will dress this up later with more images of the winners – still tons of photos and video to share – but we just got the list of West Seattle Grand Parade winners in from American Legion Post 160’s Dave Vague, and in case you were waiting to hear, we’re publishing it for starters in raw cut-paste format – read on for the winners in each category: (NOTE: NOW UPDATED WITH PHOTOS)Read More