SITU - Leavenworth Autumn Leaf Festival 2008

It was a brisk, autumn morning as the members of Somewhere in Time, Unlimited (SITU) crossed over Steven's Pass on their way to the quaint German-themed village of Leavenworth Washington for the "Autumn Leaf Festival". Crossing the pass was chilly and all the car heaters were turned up on "high" despite the lack of snow on the hills. The mountains were ablaze with a tapestry of autumn's finest colors!
Once over the pass, the merry group stopped in at "The Alps" to make a wish and ring the famous train-bell. We pondered the day ahead while enjoying the daybreak over the hills of the Icicle Creek Canyon surrounding Leavenworth while marveling at the depth of clarity in the ripple-less river before us. As we rounded the bend into the city, we stopped at a restaurant on Hwy 2 for breakfast since we knew we'd need energy to walk the parade route! The focus of our visit this day was to participate in Leavenworth's "Grande Parade" which is always held the last Saturday of September. SITU members came prepared with historical costumes to add to the color of the parade. We had turned in our application to parade organizers weeks earlier and were approved to participate in the September fun.
	Since we didn't have horses to ride or a decorated "float" that could be driven all the way from Seattle, we had to be inventive and creative. With the help of our local, friendly Leavenworth real estate professional Cameron West of Prudential Mike West, we were able to borrow his pick-up truck and decorated it to be in the parade! (Thank you, Cameron. You're the BEST!)
While waiting in the staging line for the 2 hours before the parade began, we met a number of wonderful people who had congregated into Leavenworth from all over the region. We were staged at the high school in town, turned and then followed Hwy 2 turning at the eastern most end of town onto Front Street to roll right down the main road in the heart of town. Pictured here is a lovely carriage drawn by an elegant horse with the handlers dressed in German costumes.
			Parked right next to us in line was a string of Miata cars that had driven over the Cascade Mountains as well. They were part of a Miata Club. Several of the drivers brought colorful items to decorate their cars in theme. Notice the fringed "eyelashes"? The group was responsible for transporting lovely, young Princesses who would ride on the folded down rag-top of the convertible cars.

It doesn't seem to matter if you are in Leavenworth or on the high seas, you might just bump into several pirates along the way! Here, these pirates seemed harmless and were certainly jovial enough to some of the members of SITU and the lovely Princesses parked next to us. Smile ladies!

			With the ladies waving wildly to the crowd while riding seated on delicate iron chairs (which we piled onto the back of the truck's bed), Lady Victoria drove carefully. We had 1920's music blasting from the speakers. Sir Harry escorted us on foot as we covered the parade route. Gosh there were a lot of happy faces smiling back from young and old when they saw us and heard such lively music!
There were all sorts of participants in this year's Grande Parade. There were floats,
			Bavarian-style dancers in syncopated step and bright costumes,
"Alpenhorn" playing men in short Lederhosen and long Bundhosen (knickers for those unfamiliar with the term) playing the sounds that resonate thru the hills of Bavaria, Austria and even Switzerland.
			Animals played a role in the parade too. Here are some more horses stylishly festooned in bells, ribbons, flowers and traditional leather harness.
Even a GOAT or two made it into the parade! Imagine trying to harness-in the one with antlers at the end of the route! The crowd was obviously enjoying the scenery immensely and the parade was well attended as can be seen by the depth and number of people lining the sidewalks.
			After we finished the parade, we drove over to Cameron's office to change out of 1920's costumes and into "comfortable" clothing of choice, whether it was American jeans or German dirndl dress. The temperatures had gone from frost on the ground to scorching heat at mid-day. Several of us were ready to raid the beer wagon on display...
All day there was fabulous entertainment flooding from the gazebo in the heart of town. Since the street was closed to traffic, instrumental performances and dancing took center stage for attention from crowds gathered there.
		Here, Miss Marjorie & Miss Roxann look on and enjoy the amazing skills of the performers.
		Miss Roxann is a good photographer in old-fashioned 35mm. There'll not be any of that digital efforts coming from this devoted artist! Several of her photos are included on other webpages on this site.

	What have we here? A Bavarian "hot-dog"? Costumes come in all sizes and shapes. So do costumers...
Thank you to the parade organizers for allowing us to share in the frivolity of the day. Your planning and execution is OUTSTANDING compared to other parades we've been in this year. You made us feel so welcome and most glad that we crossed the mountains, traveling 200+ miles just to be "among friends". Thank you, thank you, thank you. Special thanks to be sent to Cameron for allowing us to use his truck. Next time, come ride along with us! Another special thanks goes to Sherry Schweizer of the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce for allowing us use of some of her beautiful parade photos. You gotta love the goat picture....
If you'd like to come along with SITU to Autumn Leaf '09, any Events or Dress-up Opportunities, feel free to contact Lady Victoria for details!

You have landed on a page within the website of Somewhere in Time, Unlimited. We are a historical costuming group based in Seattle, Washington (USA). Our eras of historical costuming interest is wide and we encourage you to visit our home page for photos and more information. Thank you for stopping by!


Updated March 19, 2009