Sunset Beach celebrates each year with its "No Parade"
tradition. Come in a dressed up car, wear some sparkles and bring
your lights, cause we're having no parade tonight.
No Parade is nothing to get
excited about. It's a no-fuss celebration that brings out the BBQ
pits, the containerized fires with their warm embers, music amongst
friends and a parade like NO other. To explain what it's about,
first let us read you the flyer that was distributed in Sunset
Beach the week before Christmas. Here is what it said:
"NO" Parade
It's that time of the year
again. We've all seen the beautifully decorated boats wafting
through Huntington Harbour. Not only were the boats attractive, some
of those parties looked like a lot of fun, too.
Per Sunset Beach tradition,
there will be NO Boat Parade. Watch for the Fire Truck
Participants Welcome! DooDah, DooDah and Happy Holidays!
- End-
The strategy of planning a NO
Parade - The lead vehicle in the NO Parade is the town's
fire truck, driven by the Firefighter volunteers. If there's a fire (no one remembers that happening
during the parade), then they'll cross that bridge when they get to
it. Before the parade in 2007, a rock band, Jungle Juice, performed
Zeppelin and other cover tunes to raise money for the volunteer Fire
Department. Each community event is seen as an opportunity to
raise money for the volunteer services that keep the unincorporated
town operating in a manner it likes.
NO Grand Martial--Expect to be
challenged if you enter your vehicle with a sign that says, "Grand
Martial" and you place in extremely small print (Self-Appointed).
That's what happened in the NO Parade we attended, shown in the
pictures.
NO awards are given but if
they were, we'd have a kids category for the five children who rode
in wagons or on their scooters. A home decorating contest does
exist, and the award-winning house makes a great backdrop for the
30-second to minute-long parade passing by.
Parade Entries: Four Woody
Cars entered the NO Parade. Word on the street (Pacific St. North)
was that someone in Sunset called up a friend and told him there
would be an opportunity to get out the woody and show it off. One
woody appeared to have come from Laguna Beach, and included a huge
Thalia
Street sticker on the back mounted tire cover. Several of the
woodies were previously seen in the
Huntington Beach hometown Christmas parade in Huntington Beach
three weeks previous.
Should you wish to become a
part of next year's event, just plan to keep it to the streets of
Sunset Beach and you'll have NO fee for entry, can donate to the
community causes as a NO-sponsor of the volunteer Fire Department
and your biggest challenge will be in determining on what Saturday
the parade will be held, though it seems to occur just before
Christmas each year.
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