The Eugene Celebration

Friday 9/19

Tonight we saw the Grand Coronation of the New SLUG Queen. There were eight contestants vying for the grand title, and bribing the Old SLUG Queens to vote for them. :)

Saturday 9/20

Today was the Eugene Celebration parade! So many different entries, it seemed as if the whole town was walking through. Some of them included the Eugene Celebration Drum Corp, with their pirate drum major and float. The local TV weathermen were the Grand Marshalls, and Chili Belle and her tango partner danced their way down part of the parade route. The Drinking Gourd Elementary School had all their students and parents dessed up like leaves, and A. Gray Allen was the candidate supported by Eugene's Sweethearts of Darkness.

The Ducks on Parade were in the parade and included Melissa's favorite, the Yujin Gakuen School showed off all of their international flair with a beautiful float, and the Eugene Astronomical Society caught us stargazing.

Mobility International had people from 38 different countries in the procession. Nearby Nature showed off both insects and animals, while beautiful horses pranced on by with pseudo-Native Americans on their backs.

Wells Fargo had a stagecoach in the parade. The Eugene Newspaper Guild showed off all their dancing abilities. Cat Care Limited encouraged everyone to help "fix" the problem of an exploding cat population. And yes, the good doctor yanked the cat's balls off all the way down the parade route. ;) Not really something you would expect from a parade....

The Eugene Peace Choir showed off all their colors and their puppetry skills. Unique Eugene is a collection of local merchants, including the Smith Family Bookstore and others.

Accordions Anonymous showed up tooting their own horns, um... accordions on a huge human powered accordion. Then, the 2003 Slug Queen came riding by on her boat, followed by the 2004 Slug Queen, Inspira, and the BIGGEST Slug we had ever seen and the Slime Scooper, none other than Oregon Senator Peter DeFazio.

The Museum of Natural History had several interesting anthropological entries in the parade. It was really funny to see a balding white man in ceremonial robes dancing, um... trying to dance his way down the street. Mercado Latino, the Latin Outdoor Market of Eugene had beautiful native dress and fiesta decorations.

Planned Parenthood of Eugene had another one of those attention grabbing entries in the parade. It's mot every day that you see Joe Sperm walking down the street, or a woman in a dress made entirely of condoms. Jazz Menagerie really grooved on by in the parade. There were lots of different bikes that were ridden in the parade. Some held more than one, and others only had one wheel!

Everyone seemed to be getting in on the act. There was a peaceful Elvis, some playing cards, a red dragon, some little acorns, and even the local residents of a nursing home wheeled through the parade route with a little help from their friends!

At the end of the parade were the Harlequins "Luna Sea" entry and Samba Ja. Luna Sea was made up of many characters dancing through the parade. There was a very unlucky diver, a jellyfish, a mermaid and many smaller characters.

Samba Ja is a Brazilian dance and music entry. They had dancers, a band, and a huge puppet named Eugenisis at the end. They were amazing!

Whew! That was a long parade, and I didn't even show you everything!

We enjoyed the parade, then explored all the arts and crafts booths, street performers, bands on stage and exotic foods offered around town. It was a super fun day!

Sunday 9/21

Today we saw the pet parade and the canoe relay at Alton Baker park. Between events, we found a few caches hidden in the area. We have around 175 find now, and are slowly working our way up to 200.