Entries accepted for Hank Days Parade

No pandemic is going to stop the celebration of the Foothills and its founder.

The Hank Days Parade is slated to take place Feb. 20, and organizers are accepting entries from businesses, government and non-profit organizations, schools, clubs and other groups and individuals who want to take part in the procession.

The parade, organized by the Foothills Rotary Club, is open to floats, cars, marching and equestrian groups and other entries.

“If anyone would like to walk their dog in the parade, that would be fun too,” says Doreen Caldwell, a Foothills Rotarian.

As part of measures to contain COVID-19, the club will forego two events held as part of prior parades, a barbecue and a car show.

“But we can have the parade – I’ve gotten (approval) from the county,” Caldwell said.

She said she received calls from people wondering if the parade would go on, and said she wanted to get the word out that entries are sought.

The parade will begin forming at 8 a.m. on Feb. 20 at 47th Street and Foothills Boulevard. It will get under way at 10 a.m., heading north on Foothills Boulevard to the South Frontage Road of Interstate 8.

The theme for the parade is “Rotary Opens Opportunities,”

also the theme of Rotary International this year.

Caldwell says she’s hoping for 80 to 100 entries in this year’s parade.

The parade honors the legacy of Henry “Hank” Schechert, the man credited with founding the Foothills.

A Washington state native, Schechert in the late 1960s began buying and developing desert land east of Yuma that today is known as the Foothills. The venture was initially dubbed by skeptics as “Hank’s Folly,” but in the decades that followed, the growth of the Foothills proved naysayers wrong.

The first Hank Days Parade began in 2002, with the Foothills Rotary Club assuming responsibility for staging it beginning in 2004.

A $25 fee will be charged for commercial entries in the parade. No fee will be charged for entries by non-profit groups.

To request an entry form, call Caldwell at 928-4461668 or e-mail here at doreenc521@gmail.com.

Completed forms can be mailed to her at P.O. Box 25837, Yuma 85367, or faxed to her at 928-726-0822. Completed forms can also be returned in person to Pacesetter Homes, 8717 S. Frontage Road; Pioneer Lube & Car Wash, 11274 S. Fortuna Road, or to 12856 E. 38th St.

Entry deadline is Feb. 17, although late entries will be accepted.