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  • Burbank: Paraders prepare to entertain city

    Los Angeles Daily News
    April 23 2004

    Paraders prepare to entertain city
    By Alex Dobuzinskis
    Staff Writer



    BURBANK -- Entertainment will be the theme at Saturday's 23rd annual
    Burbank on Parade, with comedian George Lopez as the grand marshal of
    the event.

    Lopez, a Burbank resident whose eponymous TV show airs Friday nights
    on ABC, will ride in a convertible with his wife and two daughters.
    An estimated 4,000 people are expected to participate in the 219
    parade entries.

    "Kids will love it, the older people will love it. There's something
    for everyone, and it's a wonderful community spirit, small
    town-oriented, fun-for-everyone kind of day," said Joanne Miller,
    vice president and chairman of Burbank on Parade.

    The parade begins at 11 a.m. at Olive Avenue and Keystone Street,
    with the theme "Let Us Entertain You."

    Activities, including the judging of parade entries and a talent
    showcase, will be held until 4 p.m. at the parade's ending point,
    George Izay Park.

    The Burbank Tournament of Roses Association will host one of the 20
    floats in the parade. There will also be horses, antique autos,
    clowns, marching bands, Irish dancers and more.

    The parade will also have city officials in it, among them City
    Councilman Jef Vander Borght, who said that he has been going to the
    parade for years with his family.

    "Where else can you get a front row seat without having to spend all
    night waiting in the cold?" Vander Borght said.

    In past years, up to 30,000 people have watched the parade, said
    Miller, and more could come out this year because of the popularity
    of Lopez.

    The date for the parade caused some controversy this year because it
    falls on April 24, the day Armenians commemorate the Armenian
    Genocide of 1915 to 1923.

    "We did not put it on that day purposefully. We did not do it
    maliciously, and we did not do it to injure anyone," Miller said.

    The parade is always held on the last weekend of April, and when the
    problem with the date was presented to Burbank on Parade, it was too
    late to change the date, she said.

    "We have committed to not have the parade on this date in the future,
    and we will hold to that," she said.

    Alex Dobuzinskis, (818) 546-3304 [email protected]
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