Camellia Parade in Temple City 2019
On Saturday, February 23, 2019 at 10am five classic planes flew overhead the parade route to kick off the celebration of Temple City’s 75th annual Camellia Parade and Festival!
It was a beautiful sunny morning in Southern California for a parade and hundreds of band members, drill team dancers, Girl and Boy Scout troops, Camellia Float constructors, and Temple City contest community winners were ready to march, play or ride! In addition, this was also an official competition for the band and auxiliary units and as a former Drill Team member of Temple City High and Oak Ave, when I heard, “once you pass this line, you will be in competition” made my heart skip a beat!
Watching this parade was super nostalgic and also sort of surreal. I myself tried out for the little Royal Court as a 5 year old.
I marched as a Brownie, then again as a Girl Scout. We even made a Camellia Float in the sixth grade! (It was a bear picnicking at TC Park catching butterflies.) I performed in Junior High as a Drill Team member with Oak Avenue, and again as a highschooler in Temple City’s prestigious Drill Team. I was a Temple City Princess my Junior year and I rode in a fancy roadster car. Then I marched with the Musical crew each year and I even rode as the Theme Contest winner my first year of college! This parade holds a special place in my heart and it meant so much to me to watch it still going strong!
This year’s Temple City High School musical is “Mary Poppins” and I snapped a good one of Mary looking delightful, as expected!
What really surprised me was running into several of my friends from high school who were also there! I’ve actually known some of these girls since elementary school! I ran into at least 10 people I knew and we had an incredible time catching up and realizing that it’s been years since we were involved in this parade and we all commented on how nostalgic this community festival really was!
Now it was time for the next generation to be a part of this magical event and the kids were enthralled by all the music, fancy costumes, waving princesses and happy participants! Lot’s of my friends brought their own little ones. Seeing their faces was pure joy!
These are important times for the youth to get involved in their community, special events, clubs, groups and activities and just attending this years 75th Temple City Camellia Parade made me realize all that.
We have an awesome community here filled with talented musicians, future leaders, and representatives and with the TC Spirit we all grew up with, I see a bright future for all the children in this city!
What a fantastic day! Congratulations to all the performers, marchers, contest winners and participants. I would encourage you all to check out the Camellia Festival, currently going on this weekend at the TC Park! See old friends, make new ones and remember a time when this was the “biggest” event in town. It really brought me back and brought me great joy.
Thanks for reading!
-Crystal Olguin
Feb. 23, 2019
