They’ll let anyone in a parade

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Photo by Jill Carol via A.S. Ashley

Your humble servant and KPCC-FM’s Steve Julian shared a ride in a 1957 Chevy Bel-Air during the Pomona Christmas Parade on Saturday. Between David Allen and Steve Julian, that’s two men and four first names. We are first name hogs.

Steve is a Pomona native, as you may recall from my column on him in September.

“The last time I was in the parade was in the ’60s. I was with the Cub Scouts,” Steve told me before the parade began.

I wore my getup from my 2007 grand marshal turn, as well as my 2009 parade appearance: a fedora with a card reading “Press” in the band, a jacket and a skinny tie. It’s important to fulfill people’s idea of what a newspaperman is. Also, a hat comes in handy.

We balanced ourselves as best we could atop the convertible while its driver and owner, Elaine Francisco, pulled into the queue of parade entries. We waved to people on both sides of the street as the parade slowly made its way up Gibbs, along Second and down Park.

Children are the most enthusiastic. They have no clue who you are, but they’re excited to wave and be waved to. One little girl walked close to our car during a pause, read our names silently off the sign on our car and said, “Hi, David and Steve!”

The sign also said “News Media.” It might have been good PR for our profession to have two of its representatives smiling and waving in a feel-good event. See, we don’t bite! Come talk to us! Now tell us everything you know.

As our car passed the parade station, we were announced this way: “News media! Without them, no one would know it’s happening.” That was great. Moments later, those trailing “news media” were announced: “council members.”

“As it should be,” Steve joked.

There didn’t seem to be a lot of NPR listeners along the parade route (some were likely in the parade), but Steve saw a couple of people who remembered him from his Pomona days. He said he had a blast, as did I.

Few Daily Bulletin readers were along the route either. Some folks did shout a greeting, very much appreciated, and I saw some familiar faces.

Not everyone was a fan. “Hey, Allen,” one surly guy said. “Good thing I forgot my rotten fruit. Way to impersonate a newsman.”

Ho ho ho.

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Photo by me from the backseat

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