Los Angeles Daily News
April 23 2004

Paraders prepare to entertain city
By Alex Dobuzinskis
Staff Writer

BURBANK — Entertainment will be the theme at Saturday’s 23rd annual
Burbank on Parade, with comedian George Lopez as the grand marshal of
the event.

Lopez, a Burbank resident whose eponymous TV show airs Friday nights
on ABC, will ride in a convertible with his wife and two daughters.
An estimated 4,000 people are expected to participate in the 219
parade entries.

“Kids will love it, the older people will love it. There’s something
for everyone, and it’s a wonderful community spirit, small
town-oriented, fun-for-everyone kind of day,” said Joanne Miller,
vice president and chairman of Burbank on Parade.

The parade begins at 11 a.m. at Olive Avenue and Keystone Street,
with the theme “Let Us Entertain You.”

Activities, including the judging of parade entries and a talent
showcase, will be held until 4 p.m. at the parade’s ending point,
George Izay Park.

The Burbank Tournament of Roses Association will host one of the 20
floats in the parade. There will also be horses, antique autos,
clowns, marching bands, Irish dancers and more.

The parade will also have city officials in it, among them City
Councilman Jef Vander Borght, who said that he has been going to the
parade for years with his family.

“Where else can you get a front row seat without having to spend all
night waiting in the cold?” Vander Borght said.

In past years, up to 30,000 people have watched the parade, said
Miller, and more could come out this year because of the popularity
of Lopez.

The date for the parade caused some controversy this year because it
falls on April 24, the day Armenians commemorate the Armenian
Genocide of 1915 to 1923.

“We did not put it on that day purposefully. We did not do it
maliciously, and we did not do it to injure anyone,” Miller said.

The parade is always held on the last weekend of April, and when the
problem with the date was presented to Burbank on Parade, it was too
late to change the date, she said.

“We have committed to not have the parade on this date in the future,
and we will hold to that,” she said.

Alex Dobuzinskis, (818) 546-3304 alex.dobuzinskis@dailynews.com