Posted on: Sunday, July 3, 2005
Parade brings cultures together
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
A throng of Waikiki spectators stretching from Fort DeRussy to Kapi'olani Park was treated to a passing parade yesterday morning that included everything from pink gorillas to a small swarm of remote-controlled 1/5th scale Mini Coopers to a mobile picnic table.
Andrew Shimabuku • The Honolulu Advertiser "This is our Third Annual Waikiki Family Day Parade, and we're proud to say we have the most ethnic groups of any parade here," said Garret Hashimoto, Family Day event chairman.
Recent Waikiki arrival Val Vanga, 56, was as wide-eyed as any of the kids lining both sides of the street who eagerly accepted Jolly Rancher suckers passed out by the Guardian Angels.
"You know what, I've been here since Feb. 7 — I moved from Newport Beach, Calif. — and this is, like, the seventh or eighth parade I've seen," said Vanga. "It's like living in Disneyland and I'm 13!"
Hashimoto said the parade had about 85 entries and "a few thousand" participants.
Among the participants was "American Idol" celebrity Jasmine Trias.
Andrew Shimabuku • The Honolulu Advertiser After the parade, Trias was one of the singers at the Family Day Festival at Kapi'olani Park.
Gale Leva was among the visiting tourists who were pleasantly surprised to find themselves suddenly watching a parade.
"We didn't know about this," said Leva, who hails from Hoosick Falls, N.Y., population 6,000. "But it's a cute parade."
Leva, who was especially impressed with the motorized picnic table, also liked how accommodating parade organizers arranged things for motorists and pedestrians.
"I like how they space the entries apart so that traffic can continue to move at the intersections," she said.
"Back home they just block off the whole street and you have to stand there for the entire parade."
Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8038.
The parade, sponsored by the Hawai'i Christian Coalition, featured dancers, singers and entertainers representing a potpourri of cultures — Asian, Polynesian, Spanish and American.
Members of Emmanuel Temple were among the "few thousand" participants yesterday in the Third Annual Waikiki Family Day Parade, which was sponsored by the Hawai'i Christian Coalition.
"This is actually my first parade, and I'm pretty excited about it," said Trias, who waved to the crowd from the back of a 1927 Model T Ford hot rod convertible. "I'm just going to be hanging out and having a good time."
Parade watchers lined Kalakaua Avenue as the parade made its way from Fort DeRussy to Kapi'olani Park. Some tourists were pleasantly surprised to find themselves suddenly watching a parade.
