Really, It’s Not Spiked ‘Lilac Luau’ Theme Sticks To Family Values For Spokane Lilac Festival

The Spokane Lilac Festival unveiled its elaborate parade float Monday with the following assurance:

It’s only coconut milk.

Or maybe pineapple juice.

In keeping with this year’s theme of “Lilac Luau,” the float depicts a chubby Polynesian boy lounging on a beach chair in an island paradise. Familiar Hawaiian songs, such as “Tiny Bubbles,” play in the background.

The boy, wearing a lei of lilac blossoms, is sipping through a straw from a coconut shell. A fuchsia flower peaks over the top of the shell.

“He’s probably a 7- or 8-year-old boy and it’s coconut milk” in the shell, said Beth Raol, the festival’s vice president in charge of the float.

“Pineapple juice is the drink of choice,” said Ed Neumherz, executive director of the Lilac Festival.

Festival president Jack Aronson said it’s definitely one of those non-alcoholic drinks - not a cocktail.

Michael Moore, a Mead kindergarten teacher who designed the float and 23 others in 25 years, acknowledged some parade watchers might think the boy is imbibing. He hadn’t thought of the possibility until a reporter brought it up.

“I hope they think he’s drinking something nice, like juice,” he said, noting he once removed a champagne bottle from a float design because he didn’t want to promote drinking.

Many popular island cocktails are served in coconut shells, and some of them are adorned with flowers, according to the guidebook, “Hawaii at its Best.” Most contain coconut milk or pineapple juice mixed with either vodka or rum.

“They may not look like alcohol. But they are,” wrote Robert Kane, author of the travel guide.

Underage drinking is an especially touchy topic for Lilac Festival officials this year.

Lilac directors were criticized last month for letting Ferris High School princess Sharma Shields retain her crown after she was charged with drinking and driving. After further consideration, they expelled her from the royal court, and were criticized again.

Twenty-six feet long and 13 feet tall, the Lilac Luau float was built by volunteers who worked at least two days a week on it since February. They spent less than their $5,000 budget.

Aronson, who picked the festival theme because of his fondness for the Hawaiian islands, guessed it would cost $50,000 to have a similar float built by professionals.

The float will be in the Lilac Festival Armed Forces Torchlight Parade on Saturday night, and in eight other parades in other communities this spring and summer.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE PARADE Who and what: 204 entries including about 50 floats, 60 or so bands, and a variety of equestrian and other groups. When: Saturday at 7:45 p.m. downtown kicking off with a low-altitude flyover by a KC-135 from Fairchild.