STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
The Bellevue Labor Day Celebration will go on Monday as it has for decades, complete with steam engine tractors, live music and fun in the city park.
But in a unique twist, the Grand Marshal spot will be reserved for a longtime Bellevue resident who recently passed away.
Jim Paisley, who took part in many a Bellevue Labor Day celebration, riding his unicycle in the parade and performing on the stage at the Bellevue Park, will be honored in memoriam. Paisley passed away this summer after an illness of several months. He was 68.
Before his illness, he brought many a smile to Bellevue Labor Day Parade watchers with his antics on the unicycle.
He and Keith Joe Dick would also dress up as in cowboy garb, singing western songs as they pulled around a chuckwagon mounted on a red Flyer wagon to mask the sound speaker, to entertain those waiting for the Labor Day Weekend Big Hitch Parade in Ketchum.
The Bellevue Labor Day Parade starts at noon Monday, Sept. 5 at the corner of Beech and Main streets. It will rumble down Main Street, aka Highway 75, from there.
Live music will begin about 12:45 p.m. in Bellevue Memorial Park, with Parade of Bad Guys serving as the headliner, courtesy of Mahoney’s Bar and Grill.
Parade of Bad Guys will perform their rock ‘n’ roll and alt-country from 4:15 to 6 p.m. Expect acoustic sing-alongs ad loud and rowdy rock with songs about heartache, moonshine, apocalyptic rats, reptilians and space travel.
There will also be food and craft vendors in the park.