Artifact Spotlight: Rhododendron Parade

4/28/2018

This year marks the 53rd year of the Rotary Rhododendron Parade here in Eureka. Its history traces all the way back to Stanwood S. Schmidt, renown reproductive urologist and botanist who started the festival and parade in 1985 to celebrate one of the Pacific Northwest's favorite flowers. It's been going strong ever since with local bands, performance groups, and businesses marching in the parade and building floats, which travel along a rhododendron-bedecked parade route. In past years, the parade has also featured flyovers by F-15 fighter jets and the US Coast Guard. Eureka isn't alone in it's celebration of the flowering shrub; Port Townsend, WA and Florence, OR also have yearly Rhododendron parades with accompanying festivals.

American Red Cross makes an appearance in the 1980 Rhododendron Parade. Clarke Museum Collections

The Rhododendron Festival, which follows the parade, includes a large show of impressive rhododendrons and azaleas from rhododendron enthusiasts competing for grand prizes and titles During the festival, rhododendron experts are on hand to answer questions on rhododendron care, and booths to purchase rhododendrons from. You can learn more about the festival from the American Rhododendron Society Eureka Chapter website here.

Of course, parades and festivals wouldn't be complete without ribbons and buttons commemorating participant's accomplishments. Below are a few examples from the Museum's collections.

You can check out the Rhododendron Parade official website here for participant lists, the biography of this year's Grand Marshall, and more!

What are some of your favorite memories from the Rhododendron Parade and Festival? Share them in the comments!

Information for this blog post from:
Times Standard

3 Comments

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5/18/2018 05:10:17 am

Those medals are really cute. It kind of looked old school to me. It reminds me of medals we used to receive in grade school. I think they made the right choice of choosing this over the more modern looking ones. I am really falling in love with this concept. I am thinking of doing the same for our next recognition program in our office. I know it's easier to make but I am not going to use cheap materials. I want something more durable. Maybe I will use PVC instead of plain paper or cardboard.

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5/19/2018 03:46:15 pm

Many of these ribbons are from the 1970s and 1980s and are made from a material that seems more like stiff silk. These styles are still really popular in groups like 4H and various fair-related events so there's a number of places you could order ones like these from if you'd like!

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