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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

They Know The Drill: Have Fun The Sillier The Better At Heart Of Cda’s Wacky Parade

Anyone with a penchant for silliness has to like the Coeur d’Alene Fourth of July Parade.

Sprinkled throughout the lengthy lineup that took two hours to travel Sherman Avenue were a number of locals who obviously like to laugh.

Take Mikki Stevens, for instance.

The founder of the Red Hot Mamas musical performance group, “where the young pretty things feel out of place,” launched her shopping cart drill team three years ago.

“I can’t believe how it’s mushroomed,” she said, as the drill team members arranged their red Target shopping carts before the parade.

Each member wore an apron and a wide-brimmed straw hat, covered with empty packages from grocery items such as Velveeta Cheese, Shredded Wheat and Tabasco Sauce.

Only five women were on the drill team the first year. Two years later, 25 women boogied down the parade route pushing shopping carts.

“There’s a lot of crazy women out there,” Stevens said laughing.

The Red Hot Mamas came after 36 entries, including fire and city officials, a bagpipe band in kilts, Boy Scouts, and Grand Marshal Mark Rypien, quarterback for the St. Louis Rams.

About 90 more floats and entries were to follow.

Waiting in their scrub suits toward the end of the parade was a new drill team, the Kootenai Medical Center Surgical Services Rolling Lifesavers.

Doctors, surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists and some of their spouses and children, rode in or pushed more than a dozen gurneys decorated with what looked like giant lifesavers.

Their surgical garb was complete, down to the light blue shoe covers reinforced with duct tape on the soles.

The drill team practiced its routine for three weeks in the KMC parking lot, dodging ambulances and dump trucks, before the big day.

Organizer Lana Terry said the team is likely to make an annual appearance in the Independence Day parade.

“They’re starting to get charged up about next year,” she said.

The Lifesavers had a tough act of silliness to follow, however.

About a block ahead, the Perfection-Nots were warming up in a gas station parking lot. More than 120 strong, it was the largest turnout for the costumed band.

Sharon and Larry Strobel, who play flute and French horn respectively, started the band 18 years ago with about 50 people because the parade had no band that year.

“We practice once at our house before the parade,” said Sharon Strobel, who dressed as a clown. “Our neighbors all come out and bring their lawn chairs out.”

The band features the young and the old, the good and the not-sogood. The main criteria is a silly outfit.

“I pull that drum, because I have no talent,” said Tom Torgeson, who was dressed as a Russian ballerina smoking a cigar.

The band’s rendition of Beer Barrel Polka was surprisingly tight, considering its lack of rehearsals. Keeping cadence was veteran drummer Howie Robbins, who founded The Percussionauts and other drill teams in the Inland Northwest.

Robbins, who says he’s still 76 years old, had never played with the Perfection-Nots before. It was a change of pace for a band leader that some refer to as “Howie Hitler.”

“He decided he wanted to join the big time,” Larry Strobel cracked.

But Robbins, who was dressed in a Colonial suit coat and red, white and blue shorts, said he just wanted to play with his friends and former students.

“This is not a disciplined group,” he said. “This is a fun group.”

It was an appreciated group, as well. When the ragtag-looking band reached the most jam-packed stretch of the route, the crowd hooted its approval.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 3 Photos (2 Color)