THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 29, 1994 TAG: 9409290164
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
IT IS, AS ED SULLIVAN might have put it, a reeallly big parade.
The 1994 Peanut Fest Parade, which starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, will feature more units than last year and is probably one of the biggest yet.
There will be 225 units wending their way through the downtown area including 31 from Norfolk's Khedive Shrine Temple.
That group has brought their mini cars, motorcycles and variety of weird vehicles to the parade for the past several years.
They are an audience delight as are the bands. This year there will be more music than in the past.
High schools represented are Lakeland, Nansemond River, Buckingham County, Windsor, Greensville County, Sussex Central and Nansemond-Suffolk Academy.
There will also be music by the big guys of the Norfolk State Marching Spartan Legion Band.
Another staple of the parade: the floats. One of the most important, sponsored by Planter's, will feature the Peanut Fest queen and her court.
The floats and the bands will be judged.
The band winners will be announced from the grandstand, in front of Crestar Bank, immediately following the parade. They will be awarded first, second and third place trophies.
Ribbons for the best float, the most creative one, and an honorable mention will be given later.
The Peanut Fest parade has had a variety of grand marshals, but the gentleman in that position this year is special to Suffolk.
Former Virginia Gov. Mills E. Godwin Jr. has been given the honor. A permanent exhibit of his life and times is on display at Riddick's Folly, on North Main Street.
Local political figures will wave and smile at their constituents. Still more politics: the Suffolk Republican Party and the Suffolk Democratic Committee will vie for attention.
Parents and friends will watch out for the youngsters they know and love - Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts and Brownies.
Another parade staple: the beauty queens. Chief among them this year is Jennifer Martir, the 1994 Miss Suffolk.
Going back to 1924 and beyond will be some antique vehicles. There will also be the horses, clowns, very loud fire engines, police patrols and other parade standard-bearers.
Volunteers from Virginia Power will once again see to it that everything runs as smoothly as possible. They are in charge of routing the parade and trying to keep things organized.
Whoever is in charge of the weather seems to be working with the Peanut Fest people.
The outlook for Saturday is dry with decent temperatures.
As Barbra Streisand might have put it, ``Don't let it rain on my parade.'' MEMO: The Suffolk Peanut Fest parade begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at the corner
of West Washington and Broad streets, turning down West Washington onto
Main Street, disbanding at the First Baptist Church parking lot. For
information, call 539-7848.
ILLUSTRATION: File photo by Michael Kestner
The Lakeland High School band marches in the 1993 Peanut Fest
Parade.
by CNB