WHEREAS, The annual Daffodil Festival is a favored tradition for
the people of Pierce County and the Northwest; and
WHEREAS, 2014 marks the 81st anniversary of the Daffodil Festival,
and the theme of this year's festival is "Ready, Set, Grow!"; and
WHEREAS, The mission of the Daffodil Festival is to focus national
and regional attention on our local area as a great place to live and
visit, to give the citizens of Pierce County a civic endeavor and to
foster civic pride, to give young people and organizations in the local
area an opportunity to display their abilities and talents, and to give
voice to the citizens' enthusiasm in parades, pageantry, and events;
and
WHEREAS, The Daffodil Festival began in 1926 as a modest garden
party in Sumner and grew steadily each year until 1934, when the
daffodil flowers, which previously had been largely discarded in favor
of daffodil bulbs, were used to decorate cars and bicycles for a short
parade through Tacoma; and
WHEREAS, The Daffodil Festival will be celebrating its 81st year
during the 2014 festival season with the Daffodil Parade being the
highlight of the Festival week. The parade travels through the four
cities of Tacoma, Puyallup, Sumner, and Orting and consists of over 150
entries, including floats, bands, marching, and mounted units. Floats
are decorated with thousands of fresh-cut daffodils, and the parade is
a bridge that links one generation to another; and
WHEREAS, When the Daffodil Parade is over, the Royalty and their
float will travel to over two dozen out-of-town parades to represent
and celebrate Pierce County; and
WHEREAS, This year's Daffodil Festival Royalty includes Petrice
Bokako, Clover Park; Kaetlynn Brown, Sumner; Sydney Brown, Rogers;
Megan Chabot, Bethel; Emily Cook, Orting; Caiti Driscoll, Curtis;
Delaney Fry, Stadium; Stephanie Jackson-Buena, Chief Leschi; Ji Larson,
Lincoln; Lydia Mangan, Henry Foss; Kayla McElligott, Fife; Johnl
Milhans, Lakes; Marissa Modestowicz, Emerald Ridge; Casey Park, Graham-Kapowsin; Sidney Riess, White River; Emily Saito, Eatonville; Sarah
Schroeder, Wilson; Andrea Seaton, Cascade Christian; Kiasa Sims,
Emerald Ridge; Connie Smith, Spanaway Lake; Kasey Temple, Franklin
Pierce; Nina Thach, Mt. Tahoma; Haley Theriault, Bonney Lake; Kim
White, Puyallup; and KayLee Wiest, Washington;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives
recognize and honor the many contributions made to our state by the
Daffodil Festival and its organizers for the past eighty-one years; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be
immediately transmitted by the Chief Clerk of the House of
Representatives to the 2014 Daffodil Festival Officers and to the
members of the Festival Royalty.