Thousands attend Florence 'Rhody' Fest, Grand Floral Parade

Thousands of people lined the streets of Florence on Sunday for the city's 117th annual Rhododendron Festival and Grand Floral Parade.

"Our theme is high tides and good vibes," said Bettina Hannigan, president of the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce. "We're excited and we just got done walking up and down and looking at all the floats ourselves and it was really fun. Lots of happy, friendly faces out there and it's just a great community event."

Sunday's grand floral parade was part of the week-long Rhododendron Festival that featured a carnival, classic car cruise, vendor fair, and flower show.

Florence's Rhododendron Festival is the third oldest flower festival on the West Coast behind the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, California and the Portland Rose Festival. Rhododendrons are Florence's official flower, and the festival is scheduled in May every year when the wildflower begins to bloom in the city's surrounding hills and fields.

The grand floral parade began at noon as various floats made by local organizations adorning rhododendrons and other festive decorations marched nearly three miles down the Oregon Coast Highway and onto Bay Street in Old Town.

According to Mitzi Hathaway, event and tourism coordinator for the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce, the city has been working to plan the festival since last December. There was a total of 90 entries, 4 bands, and about 20 equestrian units that were featured in the parade Sunday.

Multiple organizations like Friends of Florence, PFlag Florence, Communidad Latina, Oregon Coast Military Museum, Oregon Coast Humane Society and more brought festive cheer to parade-goers. Also featured were live performances by the Marshfield High School band from Coos Bay, the Conestoga Middle School band from Beaverton and others.

Also featured in the parade was a Jeep decorated by the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce in honor and memory of Ian Michael Wood, an Alaskan fisherman and Florence native who died a few weeks ago from complications related to a 2020 fishing accident that left him recovering from a fractured pelvis, blood clots and other injuries.

"I lost what I might as well say my husband three weeks ago," said Hathaway, Wood's spouse. "He was supposed to be here."

Lon Beale, the inventor of sandboarding, was named grand marshal of the 117th annual Rhododendron Festival. He is known internationally as Mr. Dune and founded both Sand Master Park in Florence and Dune Riders International.

Beale told the Register-Guard that the experience of being named grand marshal was surreal.

Florence visitors and parade goers making memories

Shannon Reed has been a resident of Florence for over 30 years and loves attending events like the Rhododendron Festival with family and close friends to support the community and local businesses.

"When we come downtown, it kind of just brings the community together," Reed said. "We're down here supporting local business and we're down here supporting the parade and everybody who takes the time to put on the whole Rhododendron Festival."

Billy and Lola Mitchell are traveling the U.S. this summer and just happened to stop in Florence at the same time as the festival.

"We were just passing through town and had no clue there was a parade going on," said Billy. "It's a nice little town. We love it."

The Mitchells live part-time in Yuma, Arizona, and are traveling the west coast, over to Idaho and the Dakotas and back south to Oklahoma where they will reside for the rest of the summer.

"There's no hurry to get home when you're retired," Billy Mitchell said.

Richard and Cathy Clemons are Hauser residents who were among several motorcyclists who lined Bay Street in preparation for the parade. They've been attending the Rhododendron festival for at least 15 years.

"We try to make it to the parade almost every year. It's fun seeing everybody out and having a good time," Richard Clemons said.

Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking news and public safety reporter for The Register-Guard. You may reach her at HKochanski@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Thousands attend Florence 'Rhody' Fest, Grand Floral Parade