Classy Chassis Parade rolls through East Wenatchee with tribute and tradition

EAST WENATCHEE — You could say that this year’s Classy Chassis Parade on Friday went off without a hitch, but then what would’ve pulled the flatbed carrying the Eastmont High School Jazz Band?

There’s no such thing as an Apple Blossom Parade that doesn’t shut down an entire town, and from Georgia and Grant all the way to Valley Mall Parkway and 11th, East Wenatchee was awash with roughly 87 metric tons of car polish and as many ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ as spectators could manage.

From a plethora of deuce coupes to classic Mustang Fastbacks, from tractors to fire trucks, choppers to low riders to convertibles carrying Royalty, the parade had it all. Interspersed with the pristine vehicles were a smattering of bands and drill teams, and even the Seattle Cossacks showed up on their bikes to ride in formation for the crowd.

A moving tribute to fallen heroes from East Wenatchee’s Veterans of Foreign Wars and Jones & Jones-Betts displayed a billboard-sized collage of portraits and family members marched with giant pictures of their own soldiers, remembered forever by a community of friends and grateful citizens.

Of course, the mayors of both Wenatchee and East Wenatchee were on hand, and the Apple Blossom Royalty, seemingly everywhere all at once during the festival weeks, rode by in style in the back of a green ‘68 Ford Galaxie 500 convertible, million-dollar smiles on their faces.

You can see the cars again at the Classy Chassis Car Show from noon–4:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Eastmont Community Park 4Plex and the Cossacks will be back to do stunts and drills at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. 

View more scenes from the parade in our full photo gallery.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media