Lompoc Residents Line Streets for Flower Fest Parade
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By Laurie Jervis, Noozhawk Staff Writer
Sunny summer Saturday draws crowd to 57th annual parade and festival at Ryon Park
With clear blue skies and temperatures in the 70s, Lompoc showcased its tradition of flower power during the 2009 Flower Festival parade Saturday morning.
The 57th annual Flower Festival opened Wednesday and continues through Sunday. It is based at Ryon Memorial Park, Ocean Avenue and O Street, with the actual flower show taking place at the Anderson Recreation Center, 125 W. Walnut Ave.
Colorful bouquets of local flowers graced the hoods of antique and late-model cars that traveled the parade route, south on H Street to Ocean, continuing west to Ryon Park.
Fourth District Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joni Gray, Sheriff Bill Brown, state State Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, and top officials from Vandenberg Air Force Base rode in fancy cars, on a tractor, or in the case of Brown, on horseback.
Marching bands from various Lompoc Valley and out-of-town schools performed for the crowd, and the blue-gowned princesses waved from their flower-covered float leading off the parade.
Sue Schuyler, president of the Lompoc Unified School District Board of Education, was 2009 grand marshal, and 13-year-old Anthony Grossini was the festival parade’s first-ever junior grand marshal, waving solemnly from the back of a car.
In the early 1950s, according to the Flower Festival Web site, Lompoc leaders held an annual rodeo and parade. This event grew until George Miller, one of Lompoc’s leading citizens, began championing for the event to be recast as a festival focusing on flowers.
Miller persuaded the Lompoc Chamber of Commerce to change to an annual flower-based event, noting that since the city was famous for its colorful flower fields, there was no better themed festival suited for the town.
— Noozhawk staff writer Laurie Jervis can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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