On Saturday night, July 20, Marine View Drive came alive as hundreds lined the sunny streets of downtown Des Moines for the 60th annual Waterland Festival Parade. Everyone from local dignitaries, cool cars, drill teams, and of course the fun Seafair Clowns and scary Seafair Pirates – and more – participated, and can be seen in the video below. The parade was organized by Matt and Beverly Mahoney, along with Destination Des Moines. It was emceed by Blake and Max Messer, and sponsored by Destination Des Moines, John L Scott Des Moines, Seattle Southside, the City of Des Moines, Recology CleanScapes, BECU, Greenside Recreational Des Moines, The Waterland Blog, Edward Jones – Des Moines and Des Moines Marina Tenants Assn. Here is video of the full parade, as broadcast live on our Facebook page (click here and “Like” our page to get alerts for future live videos): [embed]https://youtu.be/O0HAexmFs94[/embed]]]>

12 replies on “VIDEO: Waterland Parade brings sunny downtown Des Moines to life Sat. night”

  1. so will the illegal traffic cams be disableed so that the parade willl not be subjected to this money-grubbing act by the city of Des Moines? Or maybe if that happens then this cheesy city run blog will just sweep this news away?

    1. Renee – Thanks for your comment.
      While The Waterland Blog may have an extremely tasty, crunchy cheese coating (yum!), it is in no way affiliated with the City of Des Moines.
      It’s operated by the small, local, family-run South King Media, a gluten-free internet publisher.
      Cheers,
      Scott Schaefer
      Founder/Publisher

    2. Disableed??? Scott Schaefer is an outstanding individual doing an outstanding job. He also knows how to spell.

  2. so will the illegal traffic cams be disableed so that the parade willl not be subjected to this money-grubbing act by the city of Des Moines? Or maybe if that happens then this cheesy city run blog will just sweep this news away?

    1. Renee – Thanks for your comment.
      While The Waterland Blog may have an extremely tasty, crunchy cheese coating (yum!), it is in no way affiliated with the City of Des Moines.
      It’s operated by the small, local, family-run South King Media, a gluten-free internet publisher.
      Cheers,
      Scott Schaefer
      Founder/Publisher

    2. Disableed??? Scott Schaefer is an outstanding individual doing an outstanding job. He also knows how to spell.

  3. “It was emceed by Blake and Max Messer,”? What is missing here is a huge amount of credit to Steve Goegebuer and his wife, Susan, who have been an “emcee” team since memory of the Waterland parade. Susan works diligently, scripting for Steve’s silvery voiced delivery, which is the highlight of the parade at the judging stand. Steve speaks with clarity and not one word is to be missed. We often feel like it is the radio speaking, every word enunciated like a bell. Now it is great o bestow praise for a job well done, but Steve Geogebuer should also have been given credos for his performance. Do it!

    1. Pat: On behalf of Susan and myself, thank you for your kind words!
      To clarify for readers, Susan and I worked from the parade’s main judging stage this year at the north end of town while Blake and his crew announced from their platform located more or less in the center of downtown. Both locations are on Marine View Drive S., of course.
      In earlier times my sidekick/spotter was none other than the late, great Earline Byers, who simply knew EVERBODY there was to know. If I saw someone in the parade not on my script that I didn’t know, Earline could always be counted on to identify them and to come up with additional, interesting facts that I could pass on to the parade audience.
      Also, to give credit where credit is due, Matt and Bev Mahoney wrote this year’s parade script, and did it well. If you’ve never written one (I have), it’s a daunting 60+ page task to perform successfully.
      Again, Thank You! for your comments.

  4. “It was emceed by Blake and Max Messer,”? What is missing here is a huge amount of credit to Steve Goegebuer and his wife, Susan, who have been an “emcee” team since memory of the Waterland parade. Susan works diligently, scripting for Steve’s silvery voiced delivery, which is the highlight of the parade at the judging stand. Steve speaks with clarity and not one word is to be missed. We often feel like it is the radio speaking, every word enunciated like a bell. Now it is great o bestow praise for a job well done, but Steve Geogebuer should also have been given credos for his performance. Do it!

    1. Pat: On behalf of Susan and myself, thank you for your kind words!
      To clarify for readers, Susan and I worked from the parade’s main judging stage this year at the north end of town while Blake and his crew announced from their platform located more or less in the center of downtown. Both locations are on Marine View Drive S., of course.
      In earlier times my sidekick/spotter was none other than the late, great Earline Byers, who simply knew EVERBODY there was to know. If I saw someone in the parade not on my script that I didn’t know, Earline could always be counted on to identify them and to come up with additional, interesting facts that I could pass on to the parade audience.
      Also, to give credit where credit is due, Matt and Bev Mahoney wrote this year’s parade script, and did it well. If you’ve never written one (I have), it’s a daunting 60+ page task to perform successfully.
      Again, Thank You! for your comments.

  5. To “Renee”: Our Waterland Blog is the nearest thing to newsworthy news that we, in d Des Moines enjoy. You have no idea or a lack of education to have such scorn for this medium If you are a citizen of Des Moines, you need to do your homework on the need for these traffic lights. Scott Schaeffer is in no way connected to the city and is well liked and respected (except by you) for his hard work in keeping us informed. Now, maybe you just got up on the wrong side of the bed, but a bad mouth is no excuse. May we invite you to sit by the Red Robin for a while and watch all the people “running” the stop light? Also look at the sneaky ones jumping past the light at 240th and Marine View Drive. Spend a little time being both a concerned citizen and a little diplomacy to make you loved.

  6. To “Renee”: Our Waterland Blog is the nearest thing to newsworthy news that we, in d Des Moines enjoy. You have no idea or a lack of education to have such scorn for this medium If you are a citizen of Des Moines, you need to do your homework on the need for these traffic lights. Scott Schaeffer is in no way connected to the city and is well liked and respected (except by you) for his hard work in keeping us informed. Now, maybe you just got up on the wrong side of the bed, but a bad mouth is no excuse. May we invite you to sit by the Red Robin for a while and watch all the people “running” the stop light? Also look at the sneaky ones jumping past the light at 240th and Marine View Drive. Spend a little time being both a concerned citizen and a little diplomacy to make you loved.

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