Soggy weather doesn’t dampen spirit during MLK parade

By Erin Dostal

Published Monday, Jan. 18, 2010 | 1:50 a.m.

Updated Monday, Jan. 18, 2010 | 1:45 p.m.

It was a rainy holiday, but that didn’t stop thousands of Las Vegans and tourists from clutching umbrellas and watching the 28th annual downtown parade in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The parade included dozens of dance troupes, marching bands, drum lines and community groups. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman was near the front of the parade, waving from the passenger seat of a Las Vegas Fire & Rescue truck.

The parade began at 10 a.m. and continued for about three hours. Fourth Street was closed to traffic between Gass and Ogden avenues to make way for the festivities.

Boris Zhang, 17, a band captain and clarinetist in the Valley High School marching band, said he was excited to be in the parade, even though it meant getting up early on a day out of school.

“It’s a privilege to be in any parade,” he said, adding that this one had special significance because of the holiday.

Jade Kelly, 6, attended the parade with her grandmother, Barbara Ward, 56, of Las Vegas. Kelly munched on pink cotton candy while Ward shielded the two of them from the rain with an umbrella.

Ward said she brought her granddaughter to the parade to watch family members ride motorcycles during the event, but also to pay tribute to King.

“I’m sure that when Dr. King was doing what he needed to do, he wouldn’t have stopped at a little rain,” said Terry Lawson, 54, of Las Vegas, who had settled into a spot at Bonneville Avenue and Fourth Street about 40 minutes before the parade began.

Lawson, who attended the parade with his wife, Lela Lawson, 52, said this year’s event held special significance since it was the first Martin Luther King Jr. Day since the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

“We’re here to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy,” he said. “We’re not gonna let a little rain stop us.”

Standing near Fremont Street, Denise Bellamy, 59, of Idlewild, Mich., said she was excited to attend her first parade on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. She attended the parade after seeing a news report about it.

Bellamy, who is black, said she remembers visiting Las Vegas with her family as a teenager in the 1960s, when segregation existed in some casinos.

Today, she said, it feels good to return and celebrate strides made in equality.

“We’re here because Martin Luther King was the man who made everything possible,” she said. “He led the movement of equality for everybody… it’s just a beautiful moment.”