Dale Edwards, Dec. 1, 2009

The Hemet Christmas Parade was certainly no fun for the Lizziers who participated. All six Lizzies got to the start of the parade with no problems, all started and ended the parade under their own power, and all got home safely. The only anomaly was Art Paris not paying attention as we slowed to cross a busy intersection on the way to the formation area and he rear-ended Larry Collins, but no real damage occurred. The no fun part was caused by the Hemet police force who specifically came up to several Lizzies and ordered us to not drive in circles or advance towards the sideline spectators. We could only travel straight ahead down the middle of the street like dignitary limousines. Well, Lizzies are not limousines and when we are in our Lizzies we are not very dignified. The same rules applied to everyone and the four Temple Guard scooters didn’t look too happy about it either. The police reasoning was that the spectators might come out of the crowd and get run over if we were too close. That reasoning prevailed even though they had multiple motorcycle and bicycle and walking officers every block of the parade route that were ushering “creepers” back to the curb. All this while ensuring that we and all other vehicles were driving in a straight line down the center of this 5 lane wide boulevard. Well, we parade to have some fun and entertain the kids, and if these rules prevail in Hemet for next year I don’t think any Lizziers will dedicate a day of their time, effort, and gas money to participate.

At the Laguna Niguel parade three Lizziers showed up and none started and none finished. It was raining pretty hard and there was no break in the clouds in any direction. It was not an official El Bekal parade and most of the guys had previously said they were not going to expose themselves to a potential flue or head cold from the rain in view of the probable light turnout. But Friday night one weather forecaster did say there might be a slight letup in the rain on Saturday morning, so three of us did get out of bed at 5:30 AM and load up the Lizzies and meet at Coco’s in Laguna Niguel for breakfast to assess the situation. The rain never let up and the skies were really dark, so we headed home to parade another day. About that time, the officials cancelled the parade.

December ended with our annual Christmas party, held again this year at the Tartan Room in Tustin. We had almost 20 people in attendance, including the Pote and first Lady and a few members that haven’t made our regular meetings lately. As expected, we all had a great meal and a great time socializing and planning ahead for the 2010 parade season. Note that if you want to see some sunshine and fun in your life, December parades excepted, just call our new Captain, John Edgmon at (714) 639 0337 or our new Lieutenant, Rick Meadows at (714) 534-5036 to get more information. Also, don’t forget to mark March 5, 2010 on your calendar for our Western Dance and Steak Fry.