5 Reasons I Love Announcing The Selah Community Days Parade

The Selah Community Days parade is this Saturday and I have a long tradition of hosting the parade as the onstage announcer. I receive no compensation for my time, but I do love giving back to the community -- and that is one way each year that I can donate to various charities. This year, I thought it would be fun to peel back the curtain and reveal the five reasons why I love announcing the Selah parade.

No. 5 -- I get a huge stack of names and products I can't pronounce. It's fun to wade through page after page and practice saying names I've never seen in my life. If all else fails, sadly, your princesses and queens become Queen Blah Blah Blah and Princess Blah Blah Blah. I'll say the first or last name that I recognize and hope no one else notices. I've occasionally been yelled out from the parade line as some folks freak out when you mispronounce their name, but alas, things could be worse and the parade could be in England and I'm the announcer in the town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll.

No. 4 -- Craft services. You might not realize this, but usually on movie sets, craft services is where actors and crew members go for free food between scenes. Selah has a fantastic craft services area right behind us with all the free snacks and sodas you could possibly want. You should stop by and grab a doughnut and a mocha on me.

No. 3 -- The VIP seating that I enjoy on a 1970s GMC flatbed truck. I'm well above the crowd, seated in luxurious chairs that resemble Grandma's old vinyl aluminum-colored lawn chairs. I prefer the yellow chair if possible.

No. 2 -- The sweet swag I've received over the years. The radio station gives away thousands of T-shirts, but I've yet to see one out in public. My prized Selah Community Days T-shirts are in the same vacuum that seems to swoop in days later, and I'm unable to find them following an event. I keep thinking that if I had my shirts from 2010, 2011,2012, 2014 and the prized '08, I would've sold them for a nice profit on eBay.

And the final reason I love hosting the Selah Community Days parade is that I'm one step closer to hosting the annual Macy's Day parade. I know that the parade announcer talent scout that scours the country will discover me someday, and I'll soon be up there, taking my place among the Macy's Parade greats -- Lorne Greene, Sandy Duncan, Ed McMahon, Betty White.

Seriously, though, I'm looking forward to once again hosting this fantastic parade in Selah, and I hope you'll enjoy me for all the fun starting at 8 a.m. this Saturday!