The Voice Magazine July 2017

Big Bear Doo Dah Parade in Fawnskin
is world’s shortest, most fun parade
The world famous
Big Bear
Doo Dah Parade
in Fawnskin will
debut for 2017 at 10
a.m. on Saturday,
July 22. Billed as
the world’s shortest
parade, the Big
Bear Doo Dah Parade
in Fawnskin
is long on laughs
and full of family
fun. A staple of the
annual Big Bear
Old Miners Association
Old Miners
Days events,
the Big Bear Doo
Dah Parade in
Fawnskin is not to
be missed. The parade
is sponsored
by Old Miners; the
Fawnskin Chamber
of Commerce,
the North Shore
Improvement Association
and the
Big Bear Moose
Lodge.
Feel like getting
in on the fun.
The organizers are
looking for entries.
For more information,
contact Dave
Emig at bigbearnorthshore@outlook.com
or call
(909) 229-6725.
What is the Big
Bear Doo Dah Parade
in Fawnskin?
Let’s start at the
beginning.
Sources claim
that in a July 13,
1865 editorial, a
newspaper editor
by the name
of Horace Greeley
popularized the
phrase, “Go West,
young man…”
The editorial was
written to encourage
Civil War
veterans to take
advantage of the
Homestead Act
and colonize the
western lands.
The editorial
read, “Washington
is not a place
to live in. The
rents are high, the
food is bad, the
dust is disgusting
and the morals
are deplorable. Go
West, young man,
go West and grow
up with the country.”
The advice
seems as apt today
as it was then
as there is again
a blaring hue and
cry to disengage
from our Nation’s
capital for many of
the same reasons.
Many took that
advice. Thousands
traveled to the
promised lands of
the thinly populated
West.
Countless souls
were lured to the
west by greed and
the promise of untold
riches, for gold
had been discovered
in California.
The San Bernardino
Mountains,
and the Bear
and Holcomb valleys
in particular,
filled with prospectors.
Belleville,
in Holcomb Valley,
soon was the largest
town in San
Bernardino County.
The mines soon
petered and the
gold settlements
became ghost
towns.
The Big Bear
Old Miners Association
continues
to pay homage to
that time with a
variety of events
aimed at keeping
the memory of the
gold mining days
alive. One event is
the Big Bear Doo
Dah Parade in
Fawnskin.
Nonsense and
bizarre hilarity
best describes
the Big Bear Doo
Dah Parade. Participants
dress up
as “dairy queens”
in cow suits, men
wear nun outfits,
knights of
the roundtable
appear, cowboys,
polka tenors and
a barrage of other
inventively wacky
ensembles such as
senior citizens doing
choreographed
routines with walkers.
One year the
“Dolly Llama” even
showed up: a llama
wittily named
Dolly. Be sure to get
there early to claim
your spot because
the parade is only
three blocks long
and lasts about an
hour.
The judges’
viewing booth is
in front of the Big
Bear Moose Lodge.
Afterward there
is a festival on the
grounds of the
Big Bear Moose
Lodge, which is
located right in the
heart of the small
hamlet.
Spray Tanning Starting at $19.99
Infrared Sauna $14.99
Massages Starting at $39.99
Full menu of massages
Zero-gravity chair
Hot & Cold Towels
Village Spa &
Wellness Center
VillageSpaBigBear
40729 Village Drive
Suite 9
(909) 866-2504
The Voice Magazine July 2017 • Page 7