Parade rolls on Saturday

Organizers of the "Celebrate God's Blessings' parade and rally are preparing for a day of impact in Kalispell this Saturday.

Seventeen groups have entered units in the 11 a.m. parade on Kalispell's Main Street, organizer Roland Horst said Thursday afternoon.

But it's hard to predict final numbers because anyone interested in supporting the parade's message of traditional marriage, family structure and values is invited to join in at the start of the parade route.

Participants will go from the courthouse north to Center Street, then head south to Lions Park for the rally.

A coalition of churches and community groups joined in planning the parade as an answer to last Saturday's gay pride parade in Kalispell. That parade and rally came off as a peaceful statement of beliefs, and this week's organizers are counting on the same.

But rather than being focused on what they do not believe in, this week's parade is billed as a positive statement of beliefs, a time "for fellowship in celebrating God's blessings, promoting God's precepts, standing for God's righteousness, defending our God-given rights."

David Beaulieu, pastor of Valley Victory Church in Kalispell, will be one of the speakers at the rally immediately after the parade in Lions Park.

"We want to talk about the positive side of righteousness," Beaulieu said, not just oppose somebody else's agenda.

"We want to let people know what we stand for. We are for a man and woman, a husband and wife being the definition of marriage. We are pro-life whether at the beginning or end of life."

Horst said eight or nine churches across the Flathead Valley, Flathead Advocates for Decency, Montana Pro-Life Coalition and the Flathead Republican Party all joined to launch the first of what Horst said will be an annual parade and celebration.

Parade units will include floats, dancers, horses, four-wheelers, motorcyclists and a hayride for children. Parents whose children would like be part of the hayride drawn by draft horses are invited to bring them to Eighth Street West and Main, near the Flathead County Courthouse, at 10 a.m.

All others who want to be in the parade are invited to do the same. Call Horst at 270-0606 to sign up in advance. Children on bicycles also are welcome.

The rally in Lions Park following the parade will feature dancers, singers, food vendors and speakers. In addition to Beaulieu, speakers will include Harris Hines, a Marine, attorney and pastor of Big Sky Christian Center in Hamilton; and Matt Zemacke, a physician's assistant at Hosanna Health Care in Kalispell.