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

Lilac festival parade: Here’s to the Heroes


Lilac Queen Wylie Patton, left, of Freeman High School, and Princess Margeaux Fox, of Lewis and Clark High School, wave at the start of the 2007 Lilac Festival Armed Forces Torchlight Parade on Saturday. This year's theme was Here's to the Heroes. 
 (Ingrid Lindemann / The Spokesman-Review)
Meghann M. Cuniff Staff writer

The pride of Chewelah paraded through downtown Spokane in 1970s style Saturday evening.

The brightly colored float for the small town featured an array of light green, pink, blue, yellow and orange plastic coverings, along with a fabric butterfly and a Styrofoam sun. A stereo blasted disco music as mannequins dressed in bellbottoms and colored shirts stood by.

“It’s feeling groovy – that’s the theme of it,” said 17-year-old Maegan Pugh, runner-up to Chewelah princess Andie Steinbach, also 17.

Pugh and another runner-up joined Steinbach on the float as it paraded through downtown for the 2007 Spokane Lilac Festival Armed Forces Torchlight Parade. The float was honored with the Community Sweepstakes award.

It wasn’t Pugh’s first time in the parade; she has marched in the past few as a member of her high school’s marching band.

The region’s high schools are a big part of the annual parade, with hundreds of high school band members donning their uniforms to play each year.

“I’ve marched in it; my daughter’s marched in it; we’ve all had our turn,” said Susie Amini. The Liberty Lake resident, came with her mother, Rita Feyk, to watch her son march in the parade as part of Central Valley High School’s marching band.

Though not regular parade watchers, Amini knew they needed to stake out seats early if they wanted to get a view. They arrived about 4 p.m., still too late for some spots.

Lori Fleury said she roped off a section of the curb near the corner of Spokane Falls Boulevard and Stevens Street at 5:45 a.m. before heading to work.

When her sister arrived around 1 p.m., “we were barricaded on both sides,” Fleury laughed.

By about 4 p.m., nearly four hours before showtime, lawn chairs, coolers and kids lined the sidewalks, with barely a cement slab visible near the streets. Fleury and her sisters tended a grill atop a plastic picnic table while their party of about 25 munched on chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs, waiting.

The 41-year-old Spokane resident said she’s been going to the parade since she was 6 and can’t remember the last time she didn’t sit near Stevens and Spokane Falls.

Pat Keeley traveled from Ritzville for the parade with his wife; his 10-year-old daughter, Vanessa; and Ann Christina Brett, a 17-year-old German exchange student.

The family goes to the parade every year.

“It’s kind of the starting of the summer,” Keeley explained.

His wife and daughter got into the festival spirit this year by donning lilac-colored hats and flowered headbands.

Vanessa’s favorite part? “Just to see the floats,” she said.

The girl rolled around on retractable skates while waiting for the parade to begin.

Hundreds of other children were playing in the streets surrounding her, tossing footballs and Frisbees and snacking on popcorn and other goodies being peddled by street vendors.

A couple blocks away, Fleury commented that her family had brought their own entertainment this year: her sister’s husband, who performed bicycle tricks in Stevens Street as spectators looked on.

Sirens indicated the start of the parade and cleared the streets as spectators whistled with excitement.

This year’s theme was Here’s to the Heroes.

“I’m very much enjoying seeing people stand up and say ‘Thank you’ to our active-duty troops,” said Spokane resident Cathy Iron.

“It’s a nice community affair,” added Karen Gendron.