Light Bringer Project shares Doo Dah Parade timeline

 

Time Line

August 1977:

Skip Finnell, Harry Rahbany, Ted Wright and Peter Apanel were drinking at Chromo’s bar at 120 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA. They discussed the fact that due to the Pasadena Tournament of Roses (PTOR) never-on-Sunday policy, the Rose Parade would be held on January 2, 1978. They decided to have a parade of their own on January 1, 1978.

(Doo Dah 1) January 1, 1978: The first Occasional Doo Dah Parade was held. The queen was Dorothy Romani, “Queen of the Stardust Ballroom.”

(Doo Dah 2) December 31, 1978: Doo Dah 2 with royal couple Margaret Schermerhorn and Jack McIntosh.

(Doo Dah 3) December 30, 1979: Doo Dah 3 featured Susie Wilson as queen.

(Doo Dah 4) December 28, 1980: Reining over Doo Dah 4 is the youngest queen, Lauren Jackson, age 10.

(Doo Dah 5) December 27, 1981: Doo Dah 5 featured Martha Frost and John Hermann as royal couple. The first official program is published as a special issue of New Pasadena Magazine. A special exhibit of photos and Doo Dah memorabilia was featured at Baxter Art Gallery, Caltech. It ran from December 22 through January 10, 1982.

(Doo Dah 6) November 28, 1982: For the first time the Doo Dah parade was moved from the last Sunday of the year, never to return, when Pasadena merchants realized the parade would be held the day after Christmas, one of their biggest days for sales. Did money change hands? Nobody is talking but the parade was moved to the Sunday following Thanksgiving.

(Doo Dah 7) November 27, 1983: Doo Dah 7 and the royal couple are Shirley and Corky Peterson.

(Doo Dah 8) November 25, 1984: Doo Dah 8 saw former Doo Dah princess Terry Collins crowned queen while Loch Ness Monster manager Willie Bowman was anointed grand marshal.

(Doo Dah 9) December 1, 1985: Doo Dah 9 saw a royal reprise with Terry Collins and Willie Bowman being dubbed queen and grand marshal respectively for the second year in a row.

(Doo Dah 10) November 30, 1986: Doo Dah 10 may be best remembered for Doo Dah beer. Liz Finnell was crowned Queen and Joe Messinger, grand marshal.

(Doo Dah 11) November 29, 1987: Doo Dah 11 had no queen. Betty Hamilton, co-founder and co-manager of Pasadena’s Farmers Markets served as grand marshal and John “Hi Buddy” Fischer was crowned king of the parade.

(Doo Dah 12) November 27, 1988: Doo Dah 12 made several stops along the way to allow King Bill “The Fox” Foster to chug a beer sometimes standing on his head. Richelle Small was the queen.

(Doo Dah 13) January 1, 1989: Doo Dah 13 had no royalty nor did throngs gather to watch it. Since the New Year holiday fell on Sunday that year, several of the now “old timers” celebrated the holiday with a pub-crawl, and called it Doo Dah 13. Commemorative black Tee shirts, which have become quite the collector’s item, were printed in limited numbers.

(Doo Dah 14) November 26, 1989: Doo Dah 14 saw Cloud Backus crowned queen.

(Doo Dah 15) November 25, 1990: Doo Dah 15 was broadcast on channel 13 in a delayed evening show hosted by Richard Simmons and Vicki Lawrence. Lila Johnson served as the queen and Dr. Ray Oldenberg was the grand marshal.

(Doo Dah 16) December 1, 1991: Doo Dah 16 saw the return of television with KCOP-TV, channel 13 again presenting a tape delay broadcast of the festivities. Jon Fischer (Did he change the spelling of his first name, or was a mistake made in the Doo Dah 11 program?) was named king again and Snotty Scotty and the Hankies.

According to my records, no parade was held in 1992.

(Doo Dah 17) 1993, Czar, Apanel, planned this year’s parade to be fenced in and go in a circle at Pasadena City Hall, with a $10 charge to get in. And it rained! With that, he decided to officially turn over the parade to friends in a nonprofit arts group, Light Bringer Project, for one dollar, in front of a lively audience at the International Festivals Association in Disneyland.

(Doo Dah 18) November 29, 1994: Doo Dah 18, the first Light Bringer Project production, done under the tutelage of Apanel, and back on the streets of Old Town, Pasadena.

(Doo Dah 19) November 19, 1995: Doo Dah 19 saw queen tryouts for the first time, at the ‘doo dah mansion,’ an unfinished house on stilts. Sabrina and Jim “Mister Queen” Marrin joining her on the trek along the storied parade route.

(Doo Dah 20) November 24, 1996: Doo Dah 20 with queen Mary Jean Shaffer and grand marshal Barret “Dr. Demento” Hanson.

(Doo Dah 21) November 23, 1997: Queen Juliariana (two headed trash queens).

(Doo Dah 22) November 22, 1998: Queen Tequila Mockingbird

(Doo Dah 23) November 21, 1999: Musician Ian Whitcomb served as grand marshal and Erika Marrin was queen. Photographers Walt Mancini and Joe Messinger mounted a 25-year retrospective, which documented signature moments in the life of the parade. Due to a mistake in counting the years, or maybe it was just in the spirit of Doo Dah, organizers celebrated the quarter century of Doo Dah a couple years early.

(Doo Dah 24) November 19, 2000: Doo Dah 24 saw the return of the storied Synchronized Brief Case Drill Team marching and drilling as grand marshals. Barbara Goodman the unicycle riding lady drummer for Snotty Scotty and the Hankies was crowned queen

(Doo Dah 25) November 18, 2001: Doo Dah 25, the real silver anniversary of the parade saw performance artist Norton Wisdom named grand marshal. Kavita Sharma was named queen at the new site for queen tryouts, famed Zorthian Ranch, in Altadena.

(Doo Dah 26) November 24, 2002: Doo Dah 26 found a queen with a direct connection to the early years. Molly McIntosh, daughter of Doo Dah 2 royal couple Margaret Schermerhorn and Jack McIntosh was named queen some 24 years after her parents were similarly honored. She played a saw. Grand marshal Richard Reese, well known for looking at the world through rose-colored glasses, joined her.

(Doo Dah 27) November 23, 2003: Queen Cherry Capri

(Doo Dah 28) November 21, 2004: Queen Mercy and the Merquettes

(Doo Dah 29) November 20, 2005: Queen Cherie Flores

(Doo Dah 30) November 19, 2006: Doo Dah 30 was lead by Snotty Scotty and the Hankies as grand marshals. The Pasadena band had served as grand marshals for Doo Dah 16. Co-queens Saphira and Saphrona wore smiles and just a little more along their trek along the parade route, which featured a fly by of three T-34s trailing colored smoke. This was not the first time aircraft have participated in the parade. In earlier years a hot air balloon made an appearance and on one occasion a hang-glider pilot was towed along the rout by a group of his friends.

2007: No parade was held in this year while organizers were planning for the next parade to be held in January 2008. This was being done in hopes of reenergizing the event and bringing out some new entries.

(Doo Dah 31) January 20, 2008: Doo Dah 31, date changed from November 18th, 2007, this will be held on the date of the next year’s inauguration, definitely serving up some political pundits.

The No Doo Dah Day Party and Queen Tryouts was held on Sunday, November 18th, 2007 at the American Legion Post 280, 179 N. Vinedo Ave. in (East) Pasadena. Hosting and Performing LIVE! Were Snotty Scotty And The Hankies and Horses On Astroturf. Andrew Duke Of Doo Dah acted as Master of Ceremony.

An email sent out to all on the list by the Light Bringer Project read:

The 31st OCCASIONAL PASADENA DOO DAH PARADE celebrates the post-holiday season in its typically loud, irreverent style on SUNDAY, JANUARY 20TH,

stepping off at 11:30am.. The twisted sister to Pasadena’s prim and proper Rose Parade will send up a woolly range of mischief’s, grounded superheroes, political pundits, homegrown satirists, art car inventors, and other bohemian frolickers.

HOW: Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping will make an official appearance at Doo Dah as this year’s controversial Grand Marshal. Since 1999,

anti-consumerism guru Rev Billy has established a colorful reputation for his “retail interventions” at such commercial icons as Starbucks and Disneyland’s

Main Street Parade (see www.reverendbilly.com).

Two-time divorce’ Ellen Snortland will initiate her third attempt at marriage at Doo Dah by staging what she describes as “the mama of all wedding showers.” The Gruber-Snort Shower, as it is billed, will attempt to break the Guiness Book of World Records in public and, even, Ellen’s two ex’s have agreed to join the street party.

This year’s Doo Dah features more new entries than ever before. Led by Her Royal Majesty, Queen Naughty Mickie, participants include Howdy Krishna, Stupidiotic Evolution, Mystik Krewe d’Dieux Dah, Obama for Pres, Pope Roby the !st, Senor Groucho, Benzedrine Monks, Andy Baby for President, BBQ & Hibachi Marching Grill Team, Zombies of Debt, Big Flying Carpet, LA Derby Dolls, Dead Robert Palmer Girls, Drunk in the Garage, Humboldt State Marching Lumberjacks, Soy Sisters, Raelian Religion, Roobie Breastnut, Warhol & Pal, Photo Ops & Broken Promises, Wicked Tinkers, Disco Drill Team, South Pasadena Sperm Donors, Radial Active Phlegm, Bastard Sons of Lee Marvin, Let’s Paint TV, The Tina’s, BooBoo Kitty Art Car, Boat Yota, Caeser’s Circus, High Crimes & Misdemeanors, The Beanpole, ZORG, Dr. Johnson, Spawn of Captain James Kirk, Advocating AAAAAAAA, Tequila Mockingbird, The Shirley’s, Fabulous Sons of Ed Wood, OC NORML, Horses on Astroturf, legendary Doo Dah House Band, Snotty Scotty & the Hankies AND MANY, MANY

MORE!!!

(Doo Dah 32) January 18, 2009 As Snotty Scotty and the Hankies lead off the parade, a flight of home-built experimental airplanes wowed the crowd with a mini airshow.

(Doo Dah 33) May 1, 2010. For the first time the parade left Old Pasadena and moved to East Pasadena, which more resembled “Old Town” in the days the parade was launched. The after parade party was held at the American Legion Hall, leaving those who wanted to party at the traditional Doo Dah haunts to travel back to Old Pasadena. Corky Peterson, one of the owners of the long defunct Chromo’s Bar at 120 West Colorado Blvd., where the parade was first conceived in Old Pasadena was this years Grand Marshall.

(Doo Dah 34) 2011

 

 

www.pasadenadoodahparade.info

 

Also visit Light Bringer Project on Facebook

One thought on “Light Bringer Project shares Doo Dah Parade timeline

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.