Longtime parade volunteers recognized at council meeting.

By Julian MITCHELL

The Glendale City Council honored four members of the Montrose Glendale Christmas Parade Association at its meeting on Tuesday.

Montrose Glendale Christmas Parade Association board members Chris Waldheim, Steve Pierce, Joe Pardo and Cheryl Davis received commendation by Mayor Zareh Sinanyan for their work in support of the parade.

“The City of Glendale loves Montrose,” said Mayor Sinanyan. “We may not agree on a lot, but we all agree on this.”

All of the members have dedicated years of their lives to working on the Montrose Glendale Christmas Parade volunteer committee. In particular, for over 20 years Pardo has been volunteering to help with the annual event.

“I started working the parade as a HAM radio operator … and 23 years later I’m on the board,” said Pardo.

The group was not told beforehand of the recognition and was completely surprised by the events in city council chambers.

“I thought maybe we were in trouble,” said Pierce, who has been with the association for 10 years.

Each member of city council personally thanked the association members for their work with the parade. In particular, councilmembers praised the parade for being a great welcoming point into the holiday season.

“We’re proud to put on this parade and show off the best of Glendale,” said Waldheim, who has been working with the Montrose Glendale Christmas Parade for over 10 years.

Mayor Sinanyan commended all four for their “leadership” within the Glendale community. Pierce also acknowledged that many of the association’s members are civic leaders and help the community through their work in the Montrose Glendale Christmas Parade.

Davis took over as coordinator for the volunteer committee seven years ago after Pierce. Since then, she has pulled the committee into a more modern era by digitizing many steps of the planning stages.

“We used to have papers all over the table at IHOP, trying to get a cup of coffee, [planning the event],” said Pierce.

According to Pierce, before the help of modern technology, planning for the parade began in early May. Now planning can begin as late as September.

“No other cities do a parade as good as Montrose,” said Councilmember Vrej Agajanian.

According to Pierce, what makes the parade special is having the children participate and that it is still the same “from 40-plus years ago” when the event began.

“It is quite an honor, especially to be recognized as volunteers,” said Pierce.

  Julian MITCHELL