The 57th annual Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade was all set to go this weekend until the parade committee decided on Thursday afternoon that predicted rain showers for Saturday, March 2, would prove to threatening to proceed.
“We’ve lost our sound system, and lots of the bands won’t march in the rain,” said Sandi Werthe, who, for years, has been helping organize the popular parade always scheduled for the first Saturday in March.
Werthe, the parade’s entry chairwoman, said the parade won’t be rescheduled and the honorees selected for this year’s event will be feted instead during the 2025 parade.
The last time the parade was canceled due to rain was 2019.
“We are heartbroken that the step was necessary after six months of planning, but feel that for the safety of our entries and all concerned, it is the best possible decision,” Werthe said in a statement.
Retired Army Col. Richard Seitz, a Vietnam veteran who served with the 101st Airborne Division, was to be this year’s Honored Patriot. Seitz went on to serve an impressive military career for 24 years.
After Vietnam, he served with the 82nd Airborne Division, where he was stationed along the Demilitarized Zone in Korea and the inner-German border during the Cold War.
He continued his military career at the Pentagon and later on the Joint Chiefs staff, where he served under former Secretary of State Colin Powell and helped plan large-scale military exercises worldwide. He earned three decorations for valor, including the Purple Heart Medal, for combat in Vietnam.
Other community members whom the parade committee had nominated for recognition included Capt. Rick Shoemaker as the parade’s Grand Marshal; Karyn Philippsen as Citizen of the Year; Elaina Seybold and Tyler Palino as Junior Citizens of the Year; Mike Tauber as Artist of the Year; and Brayden Belden as Athlete of the Year.
The National Weather Service predicts a 60% chance of rain for Saturday in South Orange County, with a…
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