The community is invited to celebrate the Valley’s older citizens in the first ever Spring into Action parade honoring senior citizens, happening in Snoqualmie and North Bend this Saturday, May 16th.
From 10AM to noon, a parade of fire, police, Snoqualmie Valley Transportation and senior care facilities vehicles will wind through the community, marking Older Americans Month and the start of Mt. Si Senior Center’s Week of Giving virtual fundraiser.
“We are parading for senior citizens for many reasons,” said Mt. Si Senior Center Executive Director Susan Kingsbury-Comeau.
Celebrating Older Americans Month is just the start of it. The parade also to highlights the situation of many seniors who are especially vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. They’re doing their best to stay safe at home, but many are feeling increasingly isolated.
Organizers say it will also raise awareness of the senior center and other community partners that support local seniors… and it will just bring some joy to the community.
Parade participants are urged to follow the social distancing and safety best practices recommended by state health officials, including staying at least six feet apart.
Parade goers are invited to watch from their cars, in one of the parking lots along the designated route, see below, and everyone is urged to follow these safety protocol: everybody wears a mask; nobody touches same object; everybody in their own vehicles with their own living partners; no physical pre or post celebration event; no congregating.
Besides ensuring their own safety, parade watchers will also be asked to cheer as the parade passes and generate some energy around supporting seniors in meaningful ways.
“We want to inspire people,” said Kingsbury-Comeau. “Encourage them to share how they support the senior citizens in their lives, so that others are motivated to spring into action for seniors…We’d really love to see people plaster all over Facebook or Instagram their pictures or stories of the ways they are supporting seniors, and to use the hashtags #SpringIntoAction and #SupportOurSeniors and #mtsiseniorcenter or @mtsiseniorcenter.”
The parade is also part of Mt. Si Senior Center’s Week of Giving, an all-online fundraiser, May 15th to 21st, that replaces the planned benefit auction that had to be canceled due to the coronavirus crisis.
All week, the Center website and Facebook page will feature a series of posts from staff, board members, and guests, discussing the importance of the Center in the lives of local seniors.
The goal for the Week of Giving is $45,000, and donations have already exceeded $22,000. Learn more and donate at www.mtsiseniorcenter.org.
Parade Route
The parade will begin staging in Snoqualmie, on Bracken Avenue SE, between SE Center Street and SE Douglas Street, facing Douglas. At the start, the parade will proceed along Douglas, to SE Ridge Street, to Fairway and onto Snoqualmie Parkway/Railroad Avenue. In downtown Snoqualmie, the route will turn onto SE Newton Street, then onto Park Street, then onto Meadowbrook Way SE. From Meadowbrook, the parade heads into North Bend, turning onto Bendigo Boulevard, then onto W Park Street, Main Avenue SE, Stow Avenue S, E Park Street, North Bend Way, to Torguson Park. The parade turns around at the park back onto North Bend Way, following SE Orchard Drive to end at Si View Park.
Viewing points along the route will be at Cascade Elementary School/Snoqualmie Valley YMCA, Adventure Bowl in downtown Snoqualmie, Ace Hardware and Mt. Si Senior Center, along Stow Avenue South, and at Torguson and Si View Parks.
Confirmed participants at time of publication include:
- Snoqualmie Fire Department
- Snoqualmie/North Bend Police Department
- Eastside Fire and Rescue
- Snoqualmie Valley Transportation
- Mt. Si Senior Center
- Aegis Living of Issaquah
- Regency at North Bend
