Voices and faces of Portland's past unite when iconic television and radio personalities ride and walk in the Starlight Parade and Grand Floral Parade.
The "Voices of PDX" reunion list includes Bill Schonely (Trail Blazers), Craig Walker and John Erickson (62 KGW, K103), Shirley Hancock and Mike Donahue (KOIN TV), Margie Boule (KATU TV, 62 KGW, KPAM 860, The Oregonian), Mike Rich (101.9 KINK, KGW TV, "Finding Forrester," "The Rookie," "Cars 3"), Bob Miller (1190 KEX, KPAM 860), Sheila Hamilton (101.9 KINK), Iris Harrison and Bob Ancheta (KGON 92.3), Matt Zaffino (KGW TV, KATU TV), Dwight Jaynes (KPAM 860, NBC Sports Northwest) and more. There'll be people who worked behind the scenes also taking part.
It's a new and fun element for the parades. It began when the Rose Festival announced that "Rose City Reunion" would be its theme; literally five minutes later, Ancheta sent a text to Erickson about wanting to get as many Portland television and radio people together for a reunion. It just made sense to make the reunion part of the Rose Festival parades.
"We put it out there and it just blew up. People asked, 'Where do I sign up?'" said Erickson, a retired and longtime morning newsman on 62 KGW and K103. A D V E R T I S I N G | Continue reading below
"Voices of PDX" has partnered with TriMet to make the reunion happen. There'll be T-shirts and banners made for the group. A lot of the organization has been done through the "Voices of PDX" Facebook page.
"We think it'll be about 80 people," said Marilyn Clint, Rose Festival chief operating officer. "They're competitors, but friendly competitors." The participant list, obviously, is subject to change, but Erickson and others are hopeful it's dozens of people involved.
"There's about 200 in our Facebook group," he said. "We're trying to reach out to broadcasters who are in the area and worked here, and who have not heard about it."
Interested people can also send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
The group has arranged for a Gray Line Tours trolley, in which people can jump on and off. It seats about 30 people; some people will be walking.
Erickson said the group has been in touch with Schonely, the Trail Blazers broadcasting legend and team ambassador who was hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19. He recently retired from the Trail Blazers. A D V E R T I S I N G | Continue reading below
"He's leading off the entry, we got a cool jalopy for him," Erickson said. Schonely's producer, Rich Patterson, will also be in the parade.
(UPDATE: Organizers said Schonely has to scale back his schedule, and he'll be the entry leader in the Grand Floral Parade but not the Starlight Parade.)
Erickson said "Voices of PDX" is an effort to help bring the city back together after COVID-19 and social unrest.
"Think about how desperately this town and world need to see people coming together in harmony instead of conflict all the time," he said.
"And we all feel fine about going downtown (during Starlight Parade). We feel great about it. There'll be a family friendly outdoors crowd, there's always a great vibe in the Starlight Parade, and (this year's eastside) Grand Floral Parade."
He added, "What Portland needs is people who love it to show up for it. In our field, most of us could have worked in any market we wanted to, but we wanted to live in Portland. Portland stopped being a 'market' and started being a home, where you're going to be there a long time and connect and do well."
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