Fair CEO, his wife are grand marshals of this year’s Hazel Dell Parade of Bands

This is the year when “Summer’s best party” gets a special preview with extra bells and whistles.

“Summer’s best party” is the subtitle of the Clark County Fair, of course, and this year’s fair is bound to be bigger and better than ever — because it’s the 150th anniversary of the event. It launched in 1868 in Esther Short Park. Can you imagine?

To get a jump on celebrating the Clark County Fair’s major milestone, this weekend’s annual Hazel Dell Parade of Bands has made its theme “Farm, Fun and Family Tradition,” and grand marshals of the annual outing are fair CEO and manager John Morrison and his wife Mary Ann — both of whom are past winners of the fair’s Volunteer of the Year award.

“We were floored,” John Morrison said about being honored by organizers of the Hazel Dell parade. His tale about getting involved in the fair is pretty unlikely: He spent 28 years in the Air Force, met and married Mary Ann along the way, attained the rank of colonel, retired early (age 48) and came to Battle Ground to care for his aging parents. While looking for something else to occupy his time, he said, he accepted a friend’s invitation to try beekeeping as a hobby — and even as that hobby grew increasingly dangerous to his health (he developed a serious allergy to bee stings and his doctor warned that sufficient stings would kill him, he said), he was invited to represent the Clark County Beekeepers on the fair board.

The rest is history, he said: after a half-dozen years as vice chair and then chair, Morrison stepped off the board and became its employee as CEO of the Clark County Fair.

“I never thought anything would take the place of the Air Force, but this gets in your blood,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mary Ann (a former nurse, now a seasonal tax preparer) remains a beekeeper and bee promotor who always hosts the fair’s annual visit by the American Honey Queen — the chief ambassador of the beekeeping industry. It’s because of Mary Ann, her husband said, that the American Honey Queen always visits our annual fair.

What does being grand marshals for the Hazel Dell Parade of Bands entail? There’ll be a historic fair float and the entire fair board will be on it, John Morrison said, because he wanted to show these two organizations supporting each other. Other than that, he added, “I just need a reasonable wave.”

Waving back

Here’s what you need to know to wave back during the parade, which will include 28 local marching bands; over 100 entries and floats; dancers, clowns, animals, antique and custom cars and fire trucks. Five thousand participants and as many as 20,000 spectators are expected.

First comes the annual pancake breakfast, served up by the Lions Club from 7 to 10 a.m. at the Fire District 6 station at 8800 N.E. Hazel Dell Ave. That costs $6.50 for adults and $5.50 for seniors and children. Kids under 5 eat free.

Also, a “Race to Remember” fun run — in honor of Armed Forces Day, always the third Saturday in May — is set to lead out the parade, starting at 10:15 a.m. It follows the 2.2-mile parade route; you can register in person on parade day starting at 8 a.m. for $35. Rewards for runners include medals, awards and an after-party at nearby Three Monkeys Pub and Grill.

The parade itself launches at 10:30 a.m. from Northeast 88th Street on Hazel Dell Avenue, near the fire station. It will travel south along Hazel Dell Avenue, cross at Northeast 63rd to Highway 99 and head north again before ending at 78th Street. Parade route roads are closed beginning at 9 a.m., and the launch area on Hazel Dell Avenue at 8 a.m., but you can still get to the big parking lots at Target, Grocery Outlet and Safeway.

“The 2018 parade is gearing up to be one of our best yet,” said Tony Ruestig, president of the sponsoring Hazel Dell/Salmon Creek Business Association.