Thread: Political clouds part to allow for a merry march with a smal

Sunday, March 5, 2006
Laughter in Laguna
Political clouds part to allow for a merry march with a small-town style.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/ho ... 030519.php


Sunday, March 5, 2006
Laughter in Laguna
Political clouds part to allow for a merry march with a small-town style.

By AMY TAXIN
The Orange County Register


About 3,000 people marched in the 40th annual Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade on Saturday. The Minuteman Project had wanted to be in the parade, but organizers felt the group was too political.

LAGUNA BEACH There were dogs dolled up in skirts and draped with flags, ecologists, peace activists and war veterans.

And while there was no sign of the Minutemen at the city's 40th annual Patriots Day parade, residents hadn't forgotten the anti-illegal immigration group's bid to join it.

With the sun's rays sparkling over the ocean, dozens of community groups and high school marching bands paraded down Park Avenue to the cheers of parents and children perched on the curb, waving U.S. flags.

"It brings the spirit back of the old days that some towns are missing nowadays, and we're proud of it," said Kathleen Wenger, 51, wearing a stars and stripes visor.

The parade was themed "America - Still United" and featured an eclectic mix of groups, mostly from Laguna Beach.

Spectators joked that half the city marches in the parade while the other half watches from the curb.

The Minuteman Project applied to march this year but was denied permission on the grounds that political groups are not appropriate for a community parade. The Minutemen, known nationwide for sending civilians to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border last year, sought access through the courts but failed - a result that drew joy from some city dwellers, ire from others.

Last week, the Minutemen were denied a place in San Juan Capistrano's March 25 Swallows Day Parade. The group wanted to run floats with patriotic themes in the two parades.

No Square Theatre, a local group that produces the annual satirical show "Lagunatics," didn't let the crowd forget the Minutemen on Saturday, mocking the group with a song and handing out miniature "green cards."

About 3,000 people marched in the parade and 5,000 to 6,000 people watched, said Charles Quilter II, vice president of the parade association..

Local businesses tossed candy, chocolate and even ice cream to spectators.

TuRae Fazio, 39, said she was torn about the Minutemen. While she feels there's a need for more control over immigration, she doesn't believe in denying hardworking families education or health care.

At the parade, Fazio delighted in cowboys staging a shootout, firing guns in the air.

"It's a small-town parade, so you see everyone you know," she said. "I don't see them as a bad group. They just don't fit into a small-town parade."

Not everyone agreed. While Diane Cullings, 61, attended the parade to support her friends who were marching, she wished the Minutemen had been included.

"I think they should change the name to exclusionary parade," Cullings said.

For Navy veteran Orvis Wilson Stephens, 83, of Laguna Niguel, the wonderful thing about the Laguna Beach parade is that it draws an array of people. As for the Minutemen, Stephens said he'd rather not discuss it.

"My dad said, 'Don't talk politics, don't lie to anybody and don't talk religion. You'll keep out of trouble that way,'" he said, chuckling.

CONTACT US: (714) 704-3777 or ataxin@ocregister.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/printeditio ... california

Laguna Parade Had Bands, Cars, Flags, But No Controversy
The Minuteman Project, which sued to enter the annual event but lost, was nowhere to be seen.
By David Haldane
Times Staff Writer

March 5, 2006

The 40th annual Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade on Saturday was notable not for what it had — the usual marching bands, flag-waving children and antique fire engines — but for what it lacked.

The event became a center of controversy earlier this year when organizers barred the anti-illegal immigration group the Minuteman Project from participating. The organizers said their bylaws prohibited political entries.

The Minuteman Project sued, but lost.

It threatened to protest the parade, but later backed off.

On Saturday, despite the group's absence and no visible protest, the controversy lingered for some attendees.

"I almost didn't come," said Mike Callahan, 45, a longtime parade fan.

He said it was hypocritical to exclude anti-illegal immigration activists from the event while allowing the Laguna Beach Peace Vigil, an antiwar group that stages weekly protests at the beach and has marched in the Patriots Day Parade for the last three years.

"The beauty of this town," Callahan said, "is that we're diverse. But they are censoring what they disagree with, which goes against what this parade is about."

Callahan scoffed as members of the antiwar group passed by carrying signs reading "Peace is Patriotic" and "May Peace Prevail on Earth."

"If you're going to tell me that's not a political group," he said, "I'll eat a bug."

Begun in 1967 by a city resident, the annual event is put on by private organizers who say their aim is to promote patriotism.

The Minuteman Project members said that, as patriots, they wanted to march in the parade. At one point, Jim Gilchrist, the organization's cofounder, threatened to have more than 1,200 people protest the event, but later changed his mind and urged members and supporters to stay away.

The controversy mattered little to Ted Taylor.

"I thought it was great," the 48-year-old Laguna Beach resident said of the parade after the last marcher of the final entry had passed. "I like the cowboys, and I always look for the bagpipes."