BY GINA K. WARD
Rowland Heights – This year’s 42nd Annual Buckboard Days Parade and Festival will be held on Sat., Oct. 18, in Rowland Heights, and will be bigger than ever with the theme, “Nature in Our Own Backyard.”
(Photo Courtesy: buckboarddaysparade.org)
Co-organized by the Rowland Heights Chinese Association and the Rowland Heights Community Coordinating Council, the parade will feature a variety of local school bands, community organizations, equestrian groups, floats, and the Wells Fargo Stage Coach. Local environmental scientist and educator, Kimo Morris, Ph.D., is this year’s Parade Grand Marshal.
The parade begins at 9 a.m. at the corner of Nogales and Colima, and will conclude at Rowland Heights County Park. There is no parade entry fee for community organizations and individuals. There is a $50 fee for each commercial or business application. The deadline for Buckboard Parade Entries to be included in the parade program is Sept. 17. To be in the parade but not the program, the final deadline is Oct. 10. All parade and festival applications can be found at www.buckboarddaysparade.org. Applications can be emailed to buckboardparade@hotmail.com.
Following the parade will be a Family Festival at Rowland Heights County Park from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. For everyone’s enjoyment, there will be entertainment on stage and throughout the park, with a variety of community booths offering food, handmade arts and crafts, and community information and services until 2 p.m., organized by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation. For Festival Booth Applications, please contact Letty Guerrero at Rowland Heights Park by email at lguerrero@parks.lacounty.gov. Applications are available at www.buckboarddaysparade.org.
The Hacienda Heights Kiwanis Club will be sponsoring a pancake breakfast before the parade, starting at 7 a.m. Come early and enjoy breakfast at the Bell Memorial Church parking lot on Nogales, near the corner of Colima (1747 Nogales Street, Rowland Heights). Breakfast is just $5 per person.
The Parade Co-Chairs are Rachel Fung, Rowland Heights Chinese Association, and John Grant, Rowland Heights Community Coordinating Council. The Buckboard Days Parade Sponsors are Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe; Los Angeles Parks & Recreation Department; Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol; First General Bank; Aera Energy, LLC; Southern California Edison; Henry Woo Architects; Rowland Water District; Walnut Valley Water; Southlands Christian Schools; Advanced Martial Arts; SK Taekwondo School; and the Shaolin Temple Cultural Center.
