The Old Miners’ Days Parade is this Sunday in Big Bear Lake, in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Old Miners’ festivities—thus the theme, “60 Years ‘n’ Still Kickin’.” The parade starts at 12:30pm on August 2, and will begin at Summit Boulevard and, once on Big Bear Boulevard, will continue west toward the Village, then up Pine Knot Avenue and west down Village Drive, until wrapping at the Elks Lodge. This will be the first time since 2004 that the Old Miners’ Parade makes its way through the Village L. Parade co-chair Joe Haeckel tells KBHR that this year’s parade celebration is anticipated to be bigger and better, with the participation of more off-the-mountain bands, including the United States Marine Corps Band from Twentynine Palms, a number of local floats, and a U.S. Navy flyover of F-18 Hornets from Fallon, Nevada. Spectators are encouraged to line the parade route to cheer on the participants, including Grand Marshall Chief Master Sergeant Noel Furniss, a Big Bear resident recently retired from 35 years of service with three branches of the military. The Village L and Big Bear Boulevard will be closed to all traffic, from China Garden (at the Summit Plaza) to the east and Pine Knot to the west, as of 11am on Sunday, so parade attendees should plan ahead for that. After the parade, parade units will disband at Bartlett Road and Paine Road in the Village, so access to these streets will not be available after the 12:30pm parade wraps. If participating in the Old Miners’ event, floats for judging need to be on Summit Boulevard at 10:30am; non-float participants should be lined up for the parade at 11am. Questions on Sunday’s parade can be directed to Neil Nickle at 585-8827 or Joe Haeckel at 760/809-2055.
