THE PARADE MARCHES ON

Community spirit prevails at parade

While winter weather has greeted some areas of the country, toasty Arizona temperatures welcomed the Country Fair White Elephant Parade Saturday. No one seemed to mind as thousands of viewers lined La Canada Drive in Green Valley for the 44th showing of floats, marching bands, clowns and more — all part of a community event whose participants come from not only Green Valley and Sahuarita, but other Southern Arizona communities as well.

“It was great to see the community come out and support everyone,” said Karen Morales, CFWE general manger and second-year judge.

The theme for this year’s parade was “Serving the Community” and many of the parade entrants used this as a guide to creating their floats.

Morales said she was “very happy” that so many people turned out to enjoy this special event, including the more than 105 entries all vying for the coveted White Elephant prize for the best showing in eight different categories.

Morales was also “delighted” with the results earlier this week of the thrift store’s Midnight Madness sale that took more than $9,500 during the three-hour special sale time set aside Thursday afternoon to kick-off Country Fair Days.

The parade took off with emcees Joey Lessa and Regina Ford announcing the first entry — the Pima County Sheriff’s Department including the motorcycle traffic enforcement unit, search and rescue quads, the bomb truck, DUI enforcement, SWAT vehicles and several more police specialty vehicles.

Parade chairman Jim Fitzsimmons, although busy with last-minute changes, joked with the judges and emcees on the parade stand.

According to Ron Greulich, director of field operations for the Green Valley Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteers, between 9,000 and 10,000 viewers attended the event.

As of press time, two medical incidents were reported during the event, including a heart attack suffered by one onlooker.

According to Wally Karnas, public information officer for Helmet Peak Fire Department, who was also riding on a fire truck in the parade, his team was first to respond to the victim.

“Helmet Peak firefighters stayed with the man, who was about 75 or so, until the ambulance arrived,” Karnas said.

Grand marshals for this year’s parade were Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteers Rita Lawrence and John Dart.

The 2008 parade judges were Green Valley Fire District Chief Simon P. Davis, Karen Rans of Green Valley Recreation, and Green Valley Sahuarita Chamber of Commerce President Jim Green, general manager of the Inn at San Ignacio.

Patriotism high

Patriotism was running high as the election approaches and many viewers wore political buttons supporting their candidate of choice.

Most viewers jumped to their feet each time Old Glory floated past the judges’ stand on La Canada Drive, just north of the Best Western.

The CFWE handed out $1.4 million last December to social service groups, local charities, youth organizations, school districts and various other entities and many parade participants let the viewers know how the White Elephant has helped their organization.

For the 11th year, a live broadcast of the event by radio station KGVY was presented by local radio personalities and this year’s line-up included station manager Tom Lang and former Green Valley Mall manager Terry Klaum, who helped announce the start of the parade.

The parade route was packed, sometimes three deep, and folks found seats wherever they could find a free space. Many came in golf carts, sat on curbs or brought their own lawn chairs and stools.

The parade finished before noon and traffic on La Canada was almost back to normal 20 minutes later.

Following the parade, the judges retired to a room in the Best Western Hotel to decide the winners in the individual categories.

The judges agreed that choosing the winning entries was “difficult” because the deciding factors were so close.

GVFD Chief Davis admitted this was the first time in nearly 20 years that he could view the parade start to finish.

Rans, a veteran of many parades, said she was just “honored” to serve as a judge.

And the winners are...

Winners of the trophies in this year’s parade were:

Bands: Placing first was Desert Shadows Middle School Marching Band from Nogales, and second place went to the Rio Rico High School Marching Hawks.

Marching Units: The Marine Corps JROTC from Ray High School, District 3, Kearny, Ariz. took first-place honors once again, repeating last year’s great show, and second place went to Sahuarita NJROTC, also repeating last year’s standing.

Equestrian: First went to the Pima County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse. Freeport McMoRan — Sierrita Property took second place.

Youth Groups: First place went Cub Scout Pack 321 and second place went to Continental School Parent Teacher Club. Both organizations repeated last year’s standing.

Commercial: The Green Valley Sahuarita Chamber of Commerce, with its menu of service for a successful community took first place, with Chef Charles Deeby of Kristofer’s Catering and Deli acting as spokesperson. Second went Cabinet Encounter.

Service & Charitable: Borderland Food Bank was named first place for its entry which featured loads of vegetables and fruit. The joint entry featuring the Green Valley Lions Club and La Canoa Lions Club received second place.

Church & Social: First place went to the Sahuarita Baptist Church with its clever puppet show and second went to the Italian Catholic Federation.

Special Interest: Arizona Chung Do Kwan, in its 10th year in Green Valley, took the first-place prize and second went to the antique tractors in a group called, Power from the Past, dedicated to preservation of farming and the farm machinery of rural America in the first half of the 20th century.

The Green Valley Board of Realtors Sweepstakes Award presented this year by Pat Arndt and Cathy York went to United Community Health Center for the second year in a row.

Entertainment, food and plenty of fun activities continued following the parade at Green Valley Village and Continental Shopping Plaza.

rford@gvnews.com | 547-9747