The 59th annual Garden Grove Strawberry Festival parade will be held on Saturday, May 27. The four-day festival will be held Memorial Day Weekend Friday, May 26 through Monday, May 29, 2017.
This year’s theme is “Honoring Our Community Volunteer Superheroes,” and in support of the theme, two superhero grand marshals will lead the parade.
The 59th annual Garden Grove Strawberry Festival parade will be held on Saturday, May 27. The four-day festival will be held Memorial Day Weekend Friday, May 26 through Monday, May 29, 2017.
This year’s theme is “Honoring Our Community Volunteer Superheroes,” and in support of the theme, two superhero grand marshals will lead the parade.
Burt Ward was a true “Boy Wonder” as a teenager, strong in martial arts, wrestling, track, tennis and golf, combined with a sharp intellect. He was clocked as the world’s fastest reader by the American Medical Society and holds a black belt in karate. A special piece of movie trivia is that Bruce Lee’s first filmed fight scene of his career was fighting Burt Ward (In fact, in 2015 Burt was inducted into the International Karate and Kickboxing Hall of Fame.)
So it was a natural for him to be cast as Robin, The Boy Wonder in the Batman TV series for ABC-TV. Fame followed with hundreds of personal appearances, press and even the cover of Life magazine. As an adult, he received the Harvard “Man of the Year” award.
In 1994, Burt and his wife, Tracy Posner Ward, rescued a Great Dane in distress , and learning that big breed dogs have a short life span, started the non-profit charity Gentle Giants Rescue and Adoptions, saving over 15,000 dogs in its 22 years of operation. The company also markets a dog food line that has greatly extended the life span of large breed dogs, which Ward will be selling and autographing at the festival for his charity.
THINK Together founder and CEO Randy Barth has been named Theme Grand Marshal, and Burt Ward, who played Robin in the ABC-TV Batman series, is this year’s Celebrity Grand Marshal.
Fourteen other celebrities will also be honored in the parade: Mekia Cox, Kate Flannery, Raphael Alejandro, Alicia Willis, Dalila Bela, Trinitee Stokes, Tom Choi, Grace Kaufman, Daniel DiMaggio, Ryan Ochoa, Beth Hall, Bruce Saloman, Brandon Russelll, and California Miss Outstanding Teen Jenna Tower, a Garden Grove native.
Randy Barth is the THINK Together Founder and CEO and the executive chairman of the Principal's Exchange. THINK Together is a nonprofit organization collaborating with communities, parents, and schools to help support and create excellence and equity in education for all kids. They provide early learning programs for through 5 years old and expanded learning programs for K-12 students.
THINK Together serves more than 100,000 students across more than 400 locations and 40 school districts statewide in California. Principal's Exchange is a benefit corporation (B-Corp) that for 16 years has provided customized solutions for schools and school districts to drive performance in student achievement.
For more information about the festival, visit strawberryfestival.org.
