The last group turned off the end of the parade route on Northeast 78th Street just as the rain started to fall, finishing off the 52nd annual Hazel Dell Parade of Bands.
A record 28 high school and middle school marching bands, and more than 150 floats and other acts, participated, packing Northeast Hazel Dell Avenue and Highway 99 on Saturday morning into the afternoon.
Parade organizers said before the event that they were expecting more than 5,000 participants and 20,000 spectators.
It was Liz Sauer’s first time at the parade.
She was there with her youngest, fourth-grader Ryleigh, to see elder daughter Alyssa, a Skyview High School junior and saxophonist for the marching band.
“My youngest one, she likes parades,” Sauer said as Ryleigh giggled over a go-kart turned miniature tank. “So two and two went together, I guess.”
For the past three years, Wendy Garcia has had a meal and a show: Her lunch break at the Fred Meyer there has lined up perfectly with the parade.
“I sit up here and just watch it,” she said from atop the cab of her pickup.
Her favorite act? The El Tapatio Mexican restaurant-sponsored dancing horses.
Along with dancing horses, there were Little Leaguers packed into truck beds, softball players astride hay bales, trick ropers, Shriner clowns, 4-H goats, classic cars, Scouts of all stripes, beauty queens, roller derby women, politicians waving from convertibles, and other attractions.
Not a bad way to spend a lunch break, Garcia said.
Also appearing were multiple vintage fire trucks, courtesy of longtime Hazel Dell fixture and parade patron, the late Dick Streissguth.
He was an original member and later chief of what became Clark County Fire District 6, and an avid collector of old fire engines.
Streissguth died in December, and the Streissguth family were named the parade’s grand marshals in honor of his efforts in the community.
Florin and Christine Oltean had two children in the parade: Hockinson junior percussionist Joshua and freshman trumpeter Alina, along with sixth-grader Emma on the clarinet.
“And just listening to each of the bands preparing, that way we could compare with ours, she joked. “It’s been fun, and were very thankful it’s not raining.”
Along with hordes of candy-seeking kids, families cheering on children in the parades comprised much of the cheering onlookers.
Dianne and Tom Vick were for their son, except he’s not in a band: He’s state Rep. Brandon Vick, R-Felida.
“So we had to come watch the granddaughter,” Dianne Vick said. “Him and her were in the car.”
Their favorite attraction?
“Want to see a picture of our granddaughter?” Tom Vick said, laughing.
