Sweet celebration, that’s Valleyfest
Halloween came early to Spokane Valley on Friday night, when thousands of people showed up to watch a parade of floats with costumed characters throwing free candy to the crowd.
“It’s early Halloween!” said 8-year-old Micah Tandara as he held up free lollipops. Along with his sister Emma, 5, and volunteer James Niska, who was dressed as a droplet of blood, he waited for their turn to pass out candy on behalf of the Inland Northwest Blood Center. Behind them, covered in red, white and blue lights, was the blood bank’s designated Spokane Valley collection bus.
“We wanted people to see the bus and recognize it as their local bus,” said Michelle Tandara, the blood center’s recruiter and Micah and Emma’s mother.
Her two children fidgeted a little. They were ready to pass out some candy in a parade down Sprague Avenue to kick off Valleyfest, Spokane Valley’s three-day celebration at Mirabeau Park.
On the sidewalk, 9-year-old Taylor Estes was ready. Armed with a plastic bag, he sat along Sprague Avenue, patiently waiting for the candy to show up. His 2-year-old cousin, Thomas Brown, joined him, holding up a bag that was almost as big as he was.
“I’m not sure he knows what’s going on, but he had to have a bag, too,” said Thomas’s aunt, Pam Estes, who is also Taylor’s mother.
“They’re really excited about parades and candy,” the South Hill resident said as she sat with the group of about 15 family members. Pam Estes’ mother, Cher Brown, who has lived in Spokane Valley for 31 years, said the family has watched the parade together every year since it started. The group showed up early at 6:20 p.m. to get a good spot on the parade route.
“We always see someone we know,” she said right before waving to Councilmember Rich Munson, a family friend.
Other parade participants included a Coast Guard boat decorated in lights; the Junior Cooking Club members, wearing chef’s hats; and Chewelah’s “Polly Esters,” a psychedelic float featuring pageant winners from Chewelah, Wash. The float’s bright green, pink, orange and yellow colors made it easier to spot in the dark. The float took about a month to make, said Joe Wulczynski, who was walking beside the float in a tie-dyed T-shirt.
Surrounded by giant butterflies, flowers and bright lights, Wulczynski’s daughter, Holly, 17, and Maegam Pugh, 17, both pageant princesses, grooved on a raised platform, dressed in bell bottoms and flowery tops with a daisy pattern. Behind them, Miss Chewelah, 17-year-old Angie Steinbach, danced in front of a spinning happy-faced sun.
Farther up, Veronica Sonderman, a Spokane Valley resident, trotted her dark brown horse down the parade route. The blanket underneath her saddle featured an American flag pattern. Sonderman, who turns 13 today, invited her grandparents to come watch the parade from the sidelines.
“She’s really excited that her Opa and Oma are here to watch her,” said Elly Lucas, Sonderman’s grandmother, who drove about eight and a half hours with her husband, John, from Vancouver, B.C., to celebrate their granddaughter’s birthday. “Opa,” and “Oma,” mean grandpa and grandma, respectively, in Danish. The couple, who are originally from Holland, were holding miniature American flags. They had arrived early and waited almost an hour before Sonderman’s horse came into view.
“Opa! Oma!” she shouted from atop her horse, waving.