Raining on their parade
A deluge of rain dampened the West Valley Days community carnival but didn’t douse the spirit of some local residents, who arrived wearing rain slickers and holding umbrellas.
Volunteers setting up a food concession under the pavilion at Millwood City Park fretted that the downpour would reduce attendance.
“We’ve got 800 hot dogs to sell,” said June King, a West Valley SCOPE volunteer who helped with the event. “We need the rain but we didn’t need it today.”
Saturday marked the 10th anniversary of the parade and community carnival, which raises money for West Valley SCOPE.
King said weather forecasts had indicated that the morning would be clear. “The weather was so beautiful all week. I thought we were getting these showers later in the afternoon.”
Steven Johnson, 13, was part of a crew of four volunteers from the Hutton Settlement, who set up booths in the rain. “We all kind of just came out here and we got quite a bit done.”
The first hour of the event saw pounding rain before the massive shower eased up around noon.
“You know we’ve lucked out for the 10 years we’ve had these and this is the first year we’ve really had a storm,” said Madelyn Penney, a SCOPE volunteer.
The Lilac Festival had a float with the West Valley High School ambassador on board. Toni Garman, vice president of area relations for the festival, said she expected parade buffs would ignore the weather. “If they’re parade people, they’re going to be here. Just like us, they’ll put on a rain coat and get an umbrella.”
Water dripped off trumpets and trombones as nearly 60 students from Centennial Middle School’s marching band and auxiliary performed a theme song from a James Bond movie.
Looking like the Blues Brothers in their black T-shirts, hats and sunglasses, the kids dodged mud puddles as they trudged from Susie’s Steak & Seafood on Trent to Millwood City Park, several blocks away.
Diehard parents stood under umbrellas at the park, waiting for the parade to draw near so they could snap photos and take videos of the soggy performers.
Band members belted out tunes even as thunder clapped in the distant background.
“It was cold and wet. I like thunder but we were holding metal instruments so it was kind of scary,” said Kimber Alsperger, a 13-year-old flute player, who said the rain filled the plugs on her flute.
Families huddled under trees and tents as children begged to stay and parents suggested possible indoor alternatives.
Still, a hardy group trickled to the park, dressed in everything from rubber boots to disposable rain ponchos.
Pam Cordova huddled under an umbrella while her daughter, a fourth-grade student at Orchard Center Elementary School, played carnival games. Since moving to the Valley from California, she has discovered the value of a good umbrella.
“I’ve only been here six months, and I learned real quickly how unpredictable the weather is,” Cordova said.
Olivia Rauer, 8, was in town from Boise to visit her grandmother, Ruthanna Rauer of Pasadena Park.
The little girl wasn’t fazed by the rain, as she moved from a booth where kids netted plastic ducks from a kiddy pool filled with water.
“The rain is OK. The best part is there’s tents to go under.”
Jan Geiger, another SCOPE volunteer, was ready to wrap up the carnival that she helped organize and move on to sunnier skies. “I’m done with this and I’m leaving for Florida at 7 a.m. in the morning.”