Patriotic pageantry

Barbara Diamond

Roy Marcum had no idea what he was starting when he chaired the first

Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade in 1967.

“The parade was Emily Ross’ idea, but I am the one who went to the

City Council,” Marcom said Saturday at the 37th annual parade. “She

had talked to other groups, but no one was interested. I happened to

be president of the Exchange Club that year, and when she called us,

I said, ‘Let’s have coffee.’”

Marcum didn’t expect that a cup of coffee would lead to a

cherished Laguna Beach tradition that would still be going strong

almost four decades later.

“I felt lucky to get one parade going,” Marcum said.

Ross’s idea was to show reverence for the American flag and raise

patriotic fervor.

The absence of a U.S. Marine Corps band in the parade this year

was a mute reminder that U.S. troops may be marching off to war, not

down the streets of Laguna.

The 2003 Patriot of the Year, Don Black, has been there and done

that. The Patriot of the Year is selected for gallant or meritorious

service to the country in time of war or national emergency. Black

was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses and three Air Medals

for his service to his country in World War II.

Other honorees are selected for service to the community. This

year the Parade Committee honored Fire Captain Eugene “Diz”

D’Isabella as parade Marshal, a former U.S. Marine before beginning a

46-year career of service to the city.

“There is no such thing as an ex-Marine,” said Parade Committee

President Charles Quilter, a retired Marine pilot and Patriot of the

Year in 1993, when he returned from Desert Storm.

Marilyn and Les Thomas were honored as 2003 Citizens of the Year,

and Liz Nelson and Nathan Greene as Junior Citizens of the Year.

Cory Westerhaver, 17, is a second-generation winner of the parade

program cover contest. Her mother, Michelle Herrick, designed the

program in 1979. Marissa Hoffman, 12, wrote the winning essay.

“She is the first girl ever to be chosen,” teacher Gay Pivaroff

said.

High school students Claire Vogel, Scott Brown, Henry Plant and

Hunter Poler filmed the parade, starting in the staging area at 7

a.m. Although times and dates have yet to be announced, the broadcast

will be shown on Cox Cable Channel 30. The parade committee

contributed to the purchase of film and batteries.

It has been financed and produced all these years by donors of

time and money. Funding includes a grant from the city, donations and

revenue from ads in the parade program.

“Freedom’s Promise” was the theme of this year’s parade. It was

dedicated to the seven astronauts who died in the space shuttle

Columbia explosion in January.

There were 94 entries in the parade. The U.S. Marine Corps Mounted

Color Guard, which had been pulled from the lineup because of

possible war with Iraq, was able to participate at the last minute.

Awards are presented at a post-parade luncheon, held this year at

Tivoli Too.

GRAND MARSHAL’S AWARD:

Pageant of the Masters. The entry included a church and Paul

Revere on a horse in full gallop. About 60 costumed pageant

volunteers and staff followed the float, titled “One if by Land, Two

if By Sea.” It must have been quite a sight as they walked from the

Festival grounds to the parade staging area at the Laguna Beach

Unified School District parking lot.

Not many along the parade route recognized Pageant Director Diane

Challis Davy dressed as a young male of the Revolutionary era.

“She told me, rain or shine, they were coming to the parade, no

matter what,” entry chairwoman Sandi Werthe said.

The parade has been rained out only once, in 1985.

PRESIDENT’S THEME AWARD:

California Regiment of Young Marines from Apple Valley.

COMMUNITY SERVICE FLOATS:

1 -- Bahai Faith 2 -- Volunteer Clowns of Orange County

3 -- South Coast Medical Center

YOUTH FLOATS:

1 -- Friends of the Sea Lion

2 -- Tustin Young Marines

3 -- Boys and Girls Club of Laguna Beach

COMMERCIAL FLOATS:

1 -- Pageant of the Masters.

2 -- Ken’s Jewelry, with Monika Sorce’s dog, Boomer, seated on a

swing in the back of the flower-decorated truck, wearing a $2,500

necklace and a $600 bracelet.

3 -- Haster Grove Nursery, their first time in the parade, almost

a year to the day since they opened for business, on March 1, 2002 in

Laguna Beach.

NOVELTY COMMUNITY SERVICE:

1 -- Top of the World/El Morro elementary schools’ honors chorus

2 -- South Coast YMCA parent/child programs

3 -- The Laguna Beach Garden Club

COMMERCIAL NOVELTY:

1 -- First Team Nolan Real Estate

2 -- Waste Management’s trash can drill team

MILTARY COLOR GUARD-OVER 21:

1 -- First Marine Division Assn. of Orange County

2 -- Continental Marines

3 -- Laguna’s American Legion Post 222.

COLOR GUARD-UNDER 21:

Tustin Young Marines, which also won the Marching without Weapons

category.

FIRST-PLACE BANDS:

South Coast Scots Drum and Pipes

Laguna Beach Elementary School

Mar Vista High School from Imperial Beach won in the Large School

Marching Band category and the Drum Major with Mace category.

Drum Major, Military honors went to Oak Avenue Middle School,

which also won Middle School Drill Team, Auxiliary Middle School and

Larger Middle School Band categories.

Barstow Middle School and Los Angeles Lutheran High School won in

the Small Band categories.

Mar Vista Middle School won the Band Sweepstakes.

Laguna Beach High School hosts the band competition and is not

eligible for an award.

VEHICLE AWARDS:

ANTIQUE AUTOS:

1. 1931 Ford Model A deluxe coupe, entered by Orange County

Chapter of American Revolution

2. 1926 Model T delivery truck, entered by Ralphs Grocery Co.

3. 1932 Chevrolet panel truck, used for local deliveries by La Rue

de Chocolate in Peppertree Lane, driven in the parade by Philo Smith

CLASSIC CARS:

1. 1957 pink Ford T-Bird, known as Lola, entered by Sue Marie Spa

2. 1954 Packard convertible, entered by the Laguna Beach

Beautification Council

3. 1935 Dual Windshield Phaeton, entered by the Board of

Education, driven by owner El Hatheway

CONTEMPORARY CARS:

1. 1966 VW 21-window deluxe van, entered by the Thurston Middle

School Wave Riders surf club

2. 1973 Buick convertible, entered by First Team Nolan

3. 1964 Studebaker Golden Hawk, entered by the Laguna Beach

chapter of Soroptimists International

MILITARY VEHICLES:

1. Military Vehicle Owners of Orange County entry

2. Burma Jeep, entered by the Laguna Beach Veterans of Foreign

Wars Post 5868

3. Military Vehicle Owners of Orange County entry

PARADE NOTES:

Each year there seems to be more vehicles in the parade. Military

Vehicles was a new category this year.

Parade Committee President Quilter and his wife, Ann, rode in a

1937 maroon Packard convertible, perched on the seat, which was

protected by a faux mink throw. “It was sweet,” Quilter said. But

there was no room for daughter Emily, parade horse marshal, who

trotted alongside the car.

Patriot of the Year Black, drove a 1966, red Mustang convertible

that he has owned for 37 years -- as long as the parade has been in

existence. His passengers were grandson, Max, and Black’s daughters

Kim and Dale, both of whom drove the Mustang when they were in

school. Hot.

As he has for 37 years, Grand Marshal D’Isabella drove the city’s

classic Seagrave fire engine, but near the beginning of the parade

this time, rather than at the tail end, a long-time tradition. Both

are retired now.

Coastline Pilot Editor Alicia Lopez, office manager Kathryn Delp

Dew, advertising executive Jamie Tirado and reporters/columnists

Susie Harrison and Barbara Diamond were chauffeured by Thalia Street

Surf Shop owner Jim Cocores in his 1950 Ford Woody.

Philip LeBon, 12, was a parade passenger for the third time in a

screaming yellow Stutz Bearcat with a right-hand steering wheel. Dad,

David Le Bon owns the stylish car.

George Nelson of Fawn Memories was at the wheel of his 1946 Woody,

one of the vehicles in the Beautification Council’s flotilla. Council

President Jan Osborne, Secretary Dutch Vanderhoof and Treasurer Joy

Dickerson rode in the award-winning 1954 Packard convertible, owned

by Myrna Cowman. Chair Ora Sterling was in a 1966 Plymouth. Costumes

worn by the council members were made by Cossie Mechling 13 years ago

for a Woman’s Club entry, which won the President’s Award.

Passengers in the pink Lincoln Continental entered by the Cecile

Brunner shop all featured pink hats created by third-generation

milliner Mary Carolyn Rowe. Regan Caraher, 4, dubbed the Rose of

Peppertree Lane, was one of the passengers, as was her grandmother,

Diane Smith, owner of Peppertree Lane.

Joe Masella rode with Police Chief James Spriene in a police car

driven by Capt. Paul Workman. Joe wore his uniform and the badge

presented to him by the chief in February 2001 and sat with the chief

on the reviewing stand.

Motorcycle Officers Robert Gifford and Tony White were the point

guards for the parade on their Kawasakis.

Police Department volunteers Luci Berkowitz, Irv Kaufman, Janet

Munday, Judy Wittensten and Jay Rubin participated in the parade. Les

and Marilyn Thomas, active in the COP program, would have ridden with

them if they hadn’t been selected Citizens of the Year.

Dylan Metzler was among the Police Explorers who helped with crowd

control. He has been an explorer for eight months and wants to pursue

a career in law enforcement.

Police Sgt. Greg Bartz has been on duty for 28 parades.

Mayor Toni Iseman and City Council members Cheryl Kinsman and

Elizabeth Pearson and City Treasurer Laura Parisi traveled the parade

route in a city trolley, driven by Transit Department supervisor Jan

Hawkes.

Chamber of Commerce President Ken Delino and chamber

representatives chose last summer’s Free Shuttle for their

conveyance.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion Flag Team put up

about 60 flags along the parade route.

A Patriot of the Year has been honored since Spanish-American War

veteran Herman Miller was selected in 1981.

Bree Burgess Rosen won the High Heel Award by a stiletto. It was

no contest.

“Hey, if I can dance in these, I can parade in them,” said Rosen,

who carried the banner for the No Square Theatre entry.

Yes, it is only in Laguna.

The all-volunteer Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade Assn. accepts

donations. Mail checks to P.O. Box 5147, Laguna Beach, CA 92651.

* BARBARA DIAMOND is a reporter for the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. She may be reached at 494-4321.