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 Senate 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 Secretary of the Senate to the 2014 Daffodil Festival Officers and to the members of the Festival Royalty.