An Inaugural Parade That Enjoys a Good Laugh

Steel scaffolding is going up for bleachers, tents are sprouting to house caterers and volunteers, and motorcades are rehearsing along Pennsylvania Avenue for George W. Bush’s inaugural parade on Saturday. While he may not be everyone’s presidential pick, don’t rain on his parade, yet (weather forecasters are predicting showers).

Come rain or shine there will be plenty of the traditional patriotic stuff. But couldya, wouldya, Dubya have some quirky fun in your parade? You bet he will. All told, more than 10,500 people representing 45 states will participate in the parade, among them members of 38 high school and college bands from across the country, each branch of the military, as well as a team of guards mounted on horses.

Maybe cuz George W. lost big in California, the Golden State, home of the mother of all parades--the Tournament of Roses--will have a small presence. But it will be with a big flag.

And for that, we salute Thomas “Ski” Demski and his very own Super Flag Jr. that measures 47 feet wide by 82 feet long. Junior and Demski, a Long Beach resident, will be entry No. 5 in the 1.8-mile-long parade that begins at Third and Pennsylvania avenues and ends up at the White House. The 71-year-old owner of the Super Flag company that rents mammoth-sized flags for special events, will be pushed in a wheelchair by a Navy ROTC cadet from George Washington University and Junior, weighing in at 100 pounds, will be carried on 13 poles held up by 55 other cadets.

If it wasn’t for Demski there wouldn’t be an official, bonafide, on-its-own California entry in the parade at all. A mounted law enforcement unit from Santa Clarita will join other officers from Delaware and Pennsylvania as one entry (No. 37), but Demski, who “hell, yes, I voted for Bush,” is going solo.

Besides, it was Demski who got the ball rolling on Super Flag Jr., which was created in 1981 to salute the return of the hostages from Iran. The flag has been used in Desert Storm parades in Hollywood and in Oceanside, at Super Bowl 24 in New Orleans, and it draped the USC library when then-Vice President George Bush “the old man Bush,” Demski says, made a campaign speech in 1984.

“I got a picture with the old man and now, maybe I can get one with young man Bush,” he says.

Back in December he called his pal, Tom Athey, an inaugural parade planner and asked, jokingly, “ ‘How about a flag?’ ”

On Jan. 5, Demski received a fax that he--and Junior--were in. Demski had hoped to take Super Flag Sr., but that creation, big enough to cover the Capitol at a monstrous 255 feet wide by 505 feet long, was too big. (The senior flag holds the largest flag in the world title in the Guinness World Records.

Besides, says Demski, Super Flag Sr. has been to D.C. “I unfurled that flag for the first time in front of the Washington monument on Flag Day, June 14, 1992.”

U.S. Army Maj. Jason Dunavant, a parade organizer who has been in touch with Demski says the flag man’s application was gladly accepted. “Some people get invited to be in the parade but you can also apply on your own and send in audio and videotapes,” which are then reviewed by the Presidential Inaugural Committee that ultimately decides who’s in and who’s out, says Dunavant, who has been calling parade hopefuls to tell them “they couldn’t get in. It’s sad news to give someone.”

Demski is delighted to be on the slate, even though he was the one who had to line up the cadets to carry the flag and paid to ship the flag to D.C. this past Sunday. He’ll also pay his own way; the trip will cost him $3,000 to $4,000. But he’s planning on making the most of it.

“I’m invited to the Illinois ball this weekend and hope to get in some sights,” he says. “Hell, I’m thrilled to death to be representing California on its own--and with Super Flag Jr. I just love the American flag.”

Why?

“Because it represents our country and what it stands for. It means freedom to me and there’s no sweeter word.”

This isn’t his daddy’s parade. One of the odder tributes will come from the Precision Lawn Chair Demonstration Team, a group of 13 buddies from Colorado who flip and fold aluminum lawn chairs in time to militaristic chants such as, “I got myself a new beach chair. This is where I park my derriere.”

It is their first inaugural parade, though they performed as a warmup act for Bill Clinton’s parade in 1993. They began their rise to the presidential history books in 1984, when the guys, who jokingly called themselves members of the Pro Leisure Tour, thought of the lawn chair gimmick to march in the Vail, Colo., Fourth of July parade.

The group, which espouses no political beliefs, lobbies only for lawn chair safety. The guys also note proudly that they are the only group chosen to represent Colorado in the parade.

Another curious marching brigade are the Red Hot Mamas--70 Idaho women in house dresses and aprons who dance with shopping carts while wearing hats made of 4 feet of groceries--cereal boxes, potato chips bags and milk jugs.

One of their most intricate moves is the kick line, which is much like that performed by a chorus line but done while holding their shopping carts behind them.

The women, who range in age from 35 to 76, started about 10 years ago when Mikki Stevens, a veteran of musical comedy productions from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, started the group. Most of the women are mothers or grandmothers. Some are waitresses, bank tellers, social workers. Like the lawn chair battalion, they are nonpartisan.

Even the very rich consider value. At the plush Four Seasons Hotel on the edge of Georgetown, the $150,000 inaugural package still goes begging. The special package includes a five-night stay in the presidential suite as well as separate five-night stays in the presidential suites in the Four Seasons hotels in New York and Philadelphia. The package also includes twin Harley Davidson motorcycles to keep, and limousine service during the stay at the hotels.

The 75-year-old Hay-Adams Hotel, across Lafayette Park from the White House, has sold its special four-night package at $15,000 a night. The $60,000 package includes a one-bedroom suite overlooking Lafayette Park and the White House, an on-call sedan, a cocktail reception for 12, a fully stocked bar and a magnum of premium wine. As part of a hotel tradition, the guests, along with those staying in the other 142 sold-out rooms, will receive a special commemorative inaugural plate to take home.

New presidents bring bucks. January traditionally is Washington’s slowest tourism month of year, except for once every four years when a president is inaugurated. The inauguration is expected to pump as much as $75 million into the city’s economy immediately while boosting tourism the rest of the year, officials said.

“We view the inaugural celebration as a big infomercial for visiting Washington, D.C.,” said Brian Ullmann, director of marketing and communications for the Washington, D.C., Convention and Visitors Assn.

Capital watch: For the bow-tie challenged, the Nordstrom Pentagon City is offering complimentary curbside bow-tying service Saturday evening. . . . Barbara Bush will become the first woman ever to see both her husband and her son take the oath of office.