Washougal Mayor Sean Guard is scrambling to put together a float to represent his city Saturday in the Portland Rose Festival’s Grand Floral Parade.
Organizers planned to feature five small floats celebrating local cities in the parade this year. When two of those cities dropped out, festival executives approached Guard on May 21 about a Washougal float.
Seizing on the opportunity, Guard and a handful of others began raising money for the project and assembling the float late last week. Guard took to Facebook, seeking a golf cart, donations to cover the cost of decorating the cart with flowers and volunteers to help piece the whole thing together.
“Looks like we’ve pretty much got it completely funded,” he said.
The project has come together quickly on an unusually short timeline, but Guard expects to unveil the float Thursday. Guard and several others will walk alongside the float in the parade. “Hopefully, this’ll end being an annual thing,” he said.
Battle Ground traditionally offers the only full-sized community float in the parade, where the entries need to be covered in flowers and other natural materials.
