We Love a Parade, No Matter How Small

It's possible that Strom Thurmond's people threw a parade, too, but I didn't know anything about it. Instead, I showed up for the small but sincere Katharine Hepburn Memorial Parade, led by Jamie Hook of WigglyWorld. We met on Capitol Hill at Victrola on the evening of Monday, June 30.

"There should be more parades," he said, dropping a fake potted flowering tree on the sidewalk. "So far, we've had two." The first was a tribute to visiting director Deco Dawson this past February, which I accidentally slept through. Jason and Justine from the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival arrived, and we gathered to pay tribute to the late actress. We agreed that The Philadelphia Story was about as radical as movies got. As it happens, Jason's grandfather had been a golf caddy for Ms. Hepburn, and Justine's father had found an undergarment in one of her cars, which he kept for many years. Justine was pretty sure, though, that he no longer had it. "I should ask him what happened to it," she said, a little sadly. I did not mention that when I was 10, I devoted a whole scrapbook to Hepburn, along with a separate one for Cary Grant, which my parents thought was sort of weird.

Michael Seiwerath, of the Northwest Film Forum (NWFF), happened onto the scene with grocery bags in each hand. He paused to recollect that Hepburn was one of the first actresses to appear onscreen in pants (it took television a few years to catch up, with Mary Tyler Moore).

We walked from 15th Avenue to 19th Avenue--where there was a goodbye cabaret for NWFF's Kat Bachert at the Little Theatre--with the pink-flowering fake tree and a sign that said in elegant script, "Katharine Hepburn Memorial Parade." Although we didn't meet a single person between those two avenues, Justine held the sign up high. We all talked about other things. And when we arrived on 19th Avenue, we got a small but pleased round of applause from people waiting outside the Kingfish Cafe and a few people seated inside. The world is stranger and sadder for the loss of Katharine Hepburn; for a few minutes, everyone on the corner of 19th and Mercer felt the strangeness together. EMILY HALL

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The Pioneer Square Community Association (PSCA) wants everyone to know that independent artists will be welcomed at First Thursday this month, despite the fliers distributed last month by PSCA and the city indicating there would be a crackdown on illegal street vending.

On July 3, in the cobblestoned Occidental Park space just north of Main Street, artists can set up their wares, thanks to a group permit from PSCA. The organization is also hiring a Cuban jazz band and plans to string festive lights around the park. "It's about trying to expand the event," explains PSCA's Benjamin Nicholls. "We're committed to making this work for everybody." AMY JENNIGES