More than 1,000 people had gathered before the official parade festivities began at noon. All along E. Campbell Avenue, from Central Avenue to Third Street, residents arrived early to stake out prime viewing spots and order refreshments from various nearby establishments, including Stacks, Orchard Valley Coffee Roasting Company and Alie's Corner Café.

Grandfathers and grandmothers, husbands, wives, and boys and girls sat smiling among the balloon-festooned street, with many parade-goers receiving complimentary face painting courtesy of Heartworks. Other attendees decorated the street in chalk with Easter messages and designs, while tikes in bonnets clasped American flags provided by the downtown business association.

Carl San Miguel, president of Highland Properties, served as MC, stationed in front of The Silver Buckle.

Under sunny skies, the parade began with four Campbell Police Department officers on motorcycles escorting the Easter bunny and the Campbell Union High School District's ROTC color guard downtown to music performed by a septet of Scottish bagpipers.

They were followed by merchants and citizens such as Campbell Chamber of Commerce citizen of the year Pat Laufman, who tossed candies to the crowd. To promote the Chamber's upcoming festival--"Boogie on the Bayou"--group members tossed out Mardi Gras necklaces.

Most of the audience personally knew many of the 35-plus parade participants, adding to the small-town feel. Marshall Lane Elementary School students and parents performed a ribbon and flag routine, while the Dog Walkers group, featuring nearly 20 canines clad with red, white and blue bandanas, strutted their stuff. The award-winning Westmont High School Marching Band, bagpipers and the police ended the parade.

"We walk from home and bring the kids to the parade every year," said Campbell resident Leslie Savage. "This year there were a lot of new people and it was more festive. It's a great family outing."

Several merchants benefited from their hard work on the nonprofit event. By 1 p.m., Urban Ice Cream had run out of both strawberry-banana and "Chocoholix" ice cream, while the Loma Prieta Porsche Club continued their "good time" reputation at Stoddard's Brewhouse.

"Lloyd Taylor of Quality Graphics and Dana Smith of Stone Griffin did a lot of the work, along with support from the Downtown Campbell Business Association," said association president Marsha Smith, owner of Mio Vicino Restaurant. "So much of it is a wing and a prayer because we don't know until the end exactly who and how many people are participating. Plus we're all running our own businesses in addition to putting this together. It was a beautiful day and a truly festive, hometown event. We just hope people remember that the Campbell merchants are here for them on other days, too."