Sadly, this little spell of rain has ruined more than just my thoughts of mowing my yard today. The much awaited Great Northwest Parade scheduled for 11AM today was officially canceled by HOA Board of Directors Chairman, Mr. Lee Besing (and several other staff - see comments). Lee told me that frequent checks of the weather radar were not looking good.A group of local Scouts, eager to show their 4th of July spirit posed in full gear along with Mr. Besing and other disappointed parade fans.
Not allowing the weather to, uh, rain on their parade, members of Gardeners Galore of the GNW rode out the route in fine fashion, stopping by the Old Folks Home on Timber Path to let residents appreciate the one float parade.
This is the type of community spirit that makes me proud to live in Silver Creek and the GNW.Happy 4th of July!
Update: Lee sent me two photos worth adding to the entry: The first shows the weather radar picture which clearly shows why it is so wet outside. I know that there were small handfuls of people at various spots along the parade route, umbrellas in hand, raincoat at the ready, but really, Lee's decision to cancel was the right thing to do.
It turns out that McGruff the Crime Dog was ready for the rain, fully decked out in his crime fighting London-Fog jacket. In addition to McGruff (who seems to be wearing pajama pants under that jacket), a few patriotic residents and our GNW SAPD SAFFE officer, Officer Cowan plus one of the police academy cadets, posed for Lee.
Actually, Dave, I'm not the entire HOA Board of Directors, just the Chairman. And the decision to cancel based on the current radar images and thunderstorm movements approaching Sea World area about a half hour before the scheduled start, was made jointly by the Recreation Director, the Maintenance Director, the SAPD officers and myself. So I've got lots of wonderful company to help share the blame, because as it turned out, we probably could have gone on with the parade since the actual t-storms held off until around noon.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I'm sure I was thinking Chairman, but my fingers simply refused to cooperate!
ReplyDeleteJust speaking as one resident - I wouldn't sweat it. You (and the rest of the staff) made the right decision for the info you had at the time. If the meteorologists at the local stations can't get it right from one day to the next, nobody can expect you all to get the flip of a coin right every time.
Onward to Labor Day, right?