It’s not every day people cheer when they see you coming. But that’s the reception two local unions got as they passed by an estimated 325,000 spectators who crowded into downtown Portland May 31 for the Portland Rose Festival’s 2014 Starlight Parade.
Number 33 of the parade’s 96 entries — between the Shriners and the National Guard — was International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48 (pictured below). Preceded by the union’s American-made electric vehicle, men and women of the IBEW, lit up with electroluminescent tape, marched behind a banner “We Are Community – We Are Union Electrical Workers,” and carried signs with the words “your friend” or “your neighbor.”
Three spots later came National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 82, a Starlight Parade regular since 1989. This year Branch 82 entered a float in the theme of the Wizard of Oz (pictured above), complete with Wicked Witch of the West (retiree Sue Canfield), Dorothy (Savannah Wilson, daughter of letter carrier Ken Wilson), Cowardly Lion (Jerry Fizsimmons), Scarecrow (Erik Matras); Tin Man (Tom Richardson) a pair of winged monkeys and a large delegation from the Lollipop Guild. Spectator reaction was positive, both toward the much-loved letter carriers and the discreet sign at the front of the float bearing the words “Save America’s Postal Service.”
The Starlight Parade takes place Saturday evening a week before the larger Grand Floral Parade.
