Whatcom Museum research technician and photo archivist Jeff Jewell makes his living exploring the nooks and crannies of Whatcom County’s history. He’s the guy people go to when they need photographs from yesteryear, want more details about the provenance of the 120-year-old house they recently moved into or are simply interested in learning more about the place they live.
When Jewell was contacted regarding the 100th anniversary of the Memorial Day Parade set to take place from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 28, in downtown Bellingham, he did what he does best. He doled out a generous serving of history, then searched the museum’s vast archives for photos relevant to the request.
“I’ve heard about a 100th Anniversary of the Memorial Day Parade and, honestly, I’m not sure how that is being derived,” Jewell said.
He explained that Bellingham has traditionally held Memorial Day observances in the past, but they weren’t related to a parade. Instead, they typically involve a ceremony at Memorial Park, one at the Whatcom Creek waterway, as well as at local cemeteries. Additionally, he said, the American Legion has brought color guards and taps downtown, but never a parade.
“Memorial Day weekend has been the Ski to Sea weekend for nearly 50 years, with the Grand Parade and race on that weekend,”
Jewell said. “Ski to Sea is on Memorial Day weekend, not because of anything to do with Memorial Day exactly, but because it’s a three-day weekend. You need a three-day weekend for Ski to Sea! The Memorial Day holiday, the Monday off, was established in 1971 and Ski to Sea in 1973.”
Margaret Cyr stands in a heart-shaped bower of flowers while Diana Sealund kneels and waves from a circle of petals aboard the City of Everson’s entry to the 1958 Blossom Time parade. The float, seen here drifting through the intersection of Holly Street and Cornwall Avenue, won second prize in the Out-of-Town Division. (Photo courtesy of Jack Carver, Whatcom Museum)
Jewell said a lavish Grand Parade started in 1920, related to Bellingham’s own Tulip Festival, which was held in late April or the first week of May and was designed to bring tourists to town. The three-day happening included the coronation of a queen, a carnival, flower shows, field tours, concerts, baseball games, fireworks and more. The parade was the highlight of the event, and ran as many as three miles in length. More than 100 tulip-adorned floats made appearances, as did marching bands and decorated vehicles. The festival took place until 1929, when the stock market crashed.
Following World War II, Jewell said a new festival known as “Blossom Time” aimed to recapture the “pageantry and splendor” of the Tulip Festival. With grand and junior parades and a Blossom Time Queen contest, the event that started in 1947 closely resembled what had come before it.
“By 1970, interest was waning in most of the Blossom Time events, except for a race loosely based on the Mount Baker Marathons of 1911–1913,” Jewell said. “The festival’s focus and name were changed to Ski to Sea in 1973.”
The Ski to Sea Parade makes its way down Champion Street in downtown Bellingham in 1993. (Photo courtesy of Tore Ofteness, Whatcom Museum)
The parade component of Ski to Sea was taken over by local veterans’ groups a few years ago, Jewell said, which brings the topic back to this weekend’s Whatcom Memorial Day Parade centennial celebration. Starting at the intersection of Alabama Street and Cornwall Avenue, “Celebrating our Communities and Honoring our Heroes” will be the theme of the revived event.
Organizers acknowledge that the parade has gone through a number of iterations over the past 100 years. When the Bellingham Whatcom Chamber of Commerce made the decision to end the Blossom Time Parade in 2018, former Marine David “Mac” McMaster helped launch a successful fundraising campaign to save it. That year, and again in 2019, the Whatcom Memorial Day Parade, now its own nonprofit corporation, took place the day before Ski to Sea.
“Whatcom County has enjoyed an annual parade in Bellingham for the last 102 years, interrupted only by the Great Depression and the COVID pandemic,”
a recent press release related to the event stated. “This is a non-political family event where we proudly showcase our entire Whatcom County communities, including commercial entries, schools, fire/law enforcement and all branches of the armed services.”
The Whatcom Memorial Parade begins at noon Saturday, May 28 in downtown Bellingham. To find out more, go to whatcommemorialdayparade.com.
