Kiwanis Parade in St. Helens will lift spirits, entertain young and old June 15

Finishing touches are underway for the 2024 Kiwanis Parade in St. Helens.

Just ask Judy Thompson, who is a parade committee member, and she’ll tell you a lot goes into the planning of the annual event, which this year starts at noon Saturday, June 15.

The parade begins at the Chamber of Commerce building on Columbia Boulevard, just off Highway 30. It runs down Columbia and turns right on South Fourth Street to avoid construction downtown. Columbia Boulevard will be closed at 11:45 a.m.

“This parade is well established,” Thompson said, noting it has been going on for over a century, with the St. Helens Kiwanis taking on parade responsibilities in the early 1990s.

“It’s a community parade, so there’s no cost for anybody to register,” she said. “The community parade represents the wide range of everything we have in Columbia County, from industry to farming.”

In addition to the always popular Al Kader Shiners entry, paradegoers will enjoy horses as they slowly gallop along the parade route. Additionally, lifempowered, an organization devoted to empowering individuals to live the life they choose, will be on deck for the festivities.

“lifempowered is so fun, because they look forward to this every year,” Thompson said. “They go all out.”

The theme of the 2024 parade is “Summer Fun,” and Thompson expects around 60 parade entries this year.

Following the COVID years, the Kiwanis Parade is back in the swing of things, but it was not an easy accomplishment.

“The parade was canceled,” Thompson said of the COVID pandemic. “People who had organized it for decades, kind of drifted apart. It was like having a rusty car in the garage, then trying to bring it out … there were new people involved and learning about permits, learning about what you can and can’t do, learning about the staging, learning about advertising, all those important things.”

Thompson gives a lot of credit to the parade committee for making the parade possible.

Committee members include Lisa Lewis, who helps Thompson with planning and registration. Jack Graff provides written materials and helps with staging and judging. Jay Tappan, Don Patterson and Chuck Parks help with traffic by acquiring barricades and cones.

Speaking of the committee, Thompson said, “It takes a dedicated group working together to pull all the elements together to make the parade (or anything) happen.”

Registration takes place at lifempowered, located at 105 Port Ave. in St. Helens. Although advance registration is preferred, those interested can register at 9 a.m. the day of the parade. For more information on the parade, email st.helenskiwanisparade@gmail.com.