STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Colla Voce sang about “California Dreaming” on a winter’s day as the mercury climbed toward the mid-80s.
And members of the Sawtooth Snowmobile Club threw snowballs—well, at least water balloons--to cool off parade watchers.
And the 95th Bellevue Labor Day Parade went on under cloudless skies.
Crowd numbers were down this year as, perhaps, valley residents took off to go jump in a lake. But that just meant more Tootsie Rolls and Twizzlers for the kids.
And kids got their candy delivered to them in a very unusual way this year, thanks to the efforts of a radio-controlled car group.
They introduced a car that resembled something from “Star Wars.” It zoomed to the side of the street, stopping in front of a group of kids and opening its lid to reveal a treasure chest of candy inside.
But the kids, who had been aggressively clambering after every last piece of candy thrown their way, stopped in their tracks as if wondering whether the lid would clamp down as soon as they stuck their hand in.
The candy was left untouched to continue its drive down the parade route.
Meanwhile, 14-year-old Diesel Ward, a bubbly autistic redhead who had been chosen grand marshal, wasn’t the least bit bashful.
“Happy Labor Day, everybody!” he waved from his perch at the front of the parade. “Happy Labor Day!”
The BCRD's Dave Keir won the 10K run with an unofficial time of 45:34 minutes. Alex Bolinger of Pocatello came in first in the 5K with an unofficial time of 20:07. Two goats--Relish and Dijon Mary--also participated in the run, which raised nearly $800 for the Bellevue Fire Department's Burn Out Fund.