The Stampede Parade has an organizer ready to take the reins from Daybreak Rotary Club of Williams Lake.
Ultimate Arty, Willie Dye, has stepped up to the plate, and said his decision was really simple.
“I woke up one morning, took my stupid pills, and thought I could do it,” he told the Tribune Monday, chuckling. “I know it’s a big undertaking but everyone - city council, Rotary - have been super cooperative and helpful.”
Already he has commitments from 10 people to be in the parade and five or six others willing to help.
“There is a whole lot of excitement about it.”
Toward the end of March Dye plans to share some information about the parade on Facebook and said if anyone wants to be involved to give him a call at 250-398-8826.
Using his Ultimate Arty persona, he looks forward to distributing information on social media and will work with local videographer John Del.
When asked about his first Williams Lake Stampede Parade, he recalled it was in 1954.
“My parents had taken over the Ranch Hotel and my dad had a brilliant idea that we should put a float in the parade because it would be good advertising. There was a chuckwagon and everything. I was in the back and I thought I was going to drown because it was raining so hard.”
The theme for the 2022 parade will be “Back in the Saddle Again,” which Dye credited Joan Oliver for.
She’s the Cat in the Hat you usually see at the parade, he said.
Recently he watched a video of the parade just to remind himself about it and was surprised to see how big it was.
“I was always in it, so I never really knew how big it was.”
On Tuesday, March 8, Ultimate Arty appeared as a delegation at the regular city counil meeting.