Photograph by Robert Scheer
The Los Gatos High School Marching Band won the first prize of $500 in Saratoga's 40th Birthday Parade.
By Susan Mueller
Saratoga's 40th birthday parade was Americana at its best. Families, community organizations, schools and government showed off their finest in a grand parade down Saratoga Avenue on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 6. Beginning at Sacred Heart Church, some 2,462 parade participants were stalwart all the way to Wildwood Park.
A motorcade of sheriff's and fire vehicles led the parade. Using sirens, they arrested the attention of curbside viewers. Former mayors and current candidates waved from a series of vintage cars. Sheriff's deputies also rode horses, to the delight of the children on the curb.
The mainstays of the parade were high-school marching bands, with their color guards and drill teams led by elegant drum majors. Saratoga High School's band brought their mascot, a cheerleader in a red-feather chicken costume.
Interspersed in the 73 entries were other interesting groups. The Saratoga Education Foundation had a float ballyhooing their Young Scientist study of the Saratoga Creek, followed by a gang on inline skates.
"This project brings real life to science, and the kids love it," said science resource teacher Garth Bacon. "We have a K-8 project in which some 60 to 70 percent of Saratoga schoolchildren make walking field trips to the creek to study salinity, nitrates, temperature and animal populations. Mucking around adds to the fun."
The Pet Rescue Network showed up with nine dogs on leashes. The smallest, a lap dog, had to be carried periodically, while the biggest, a 100-pound mastiff, proved to be quite friendly.
The Saratoga Recreation Department sent Macarena dancers in hot pink T-shirts.
The Saratoga sister city of Muko, Japan, had a float with an outstanding taiko team. The drums looked like barrels, and their thunder could be heard a block away.
In addition to the El Sereno 4-H Club, there were scout troops, including Cub Scout Troop 549, Brownie Troop 301, which threw candy to the crowd, and Girl Scout Troop 1257, which reminded the audience of scouting's long tradition in this community.
Saratoga Community Preschool marched forward with a full-size, live Raggedy Ann in the lead, followed by moms and dads pushing strollers and pulling wagons.
A truck rolled by, completely camouflaged as a 40th birthday cake, and elicited major applause from the crowd. Notre Dame Montesori School created it.
Christopher Lee, 6, drove a gasoline-powered miniature tractor, pulling his parents, April and Jim Lee, and sister Courtney, 2, on a small hay wagon. Christopher is a first-grader at Foothill Elementary School, and his grandfather restored the 1926 Fairbank Morse tractor. Despite not having a driver's license, the 6-year-old was not cited by police.
The estimated crowd of 11,000 also saw 16 hot and tired Confederate-attired soldiers with working muskets and a hand-pulled cannon.
The parade culminated in Wildwood Park with a battle of the bands. More than 30 trophies and cash prizes were awarded, and 28 birthday cakes were cut and served.
Los Gatos High School won the first prize of $500 in the marching band category and an additional $125 for its performance. The $100 third prize went to hometown Saratoga High School .
Additional prizes were handed out for drum majors, color guard units and drill teams.
Maggie Porter, vice president of Bank of America, donated a cake for the bash. The other 27 cakes also had the names of contributing merchants emblazoned on the frosting. The bands had a final chance to show off while past mayors cut the cakes.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, October 16, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved