Preserving Mother Earth Parade a Huge Success!
The 2009 Native American Connections parade, Preserving Mother Earth, was a huge success! Together we encouraged the public to care for our environment and engage in "green" practices. This event could not have been successful without the support of the community! Community members supported the parade as participants, spectators and behind the scenes volunteers.
All of our entries were outstanding this year including some fantastic floats, royalty, equestrian and color guards!
Native American Connections would like to thank all of our community volunteers who gave of their time to make this event successful including families and friends of NAC and Tripple R Volunteer Corps.
This year we were honored to have 40 Under 40 Award Recipient Jason Coochytewa as our official emcee who did an outstanding job of engaging the parade participants, the judges and the crowd!
We would like to give a special thanks to our wonderful panel of judges for their efforts and enthusiasm!
Michael Allison, Native American Liaison, Arizona Department of Health Services
Roberta Arthur, Phoenix Indian Medical Center
Linda Benally, Attorney, Pinnacle West
Sheila Harris, Sr. Vice President, The Molera Alvarez Group
Patti Hibbeler, CEO of the Phoenix Indian Center
Hank Hibbeler, Youth Judge
Randy Kemp, notable Native American Artist and musician
Katosha Nakai, Policy Advisor on Tribal Affairs to Governor Jan Brewer
D'arcy Roybal, Tribal Liaison for Magellan Health Services
Tyrone Shipman, Property Management Specialist from the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Mary Kim Titla, publisher of Native Youth Magazine and former channel 12 reporter
We also extend our gratitude to this years' partners and sponsors:
Casino Arizona
City of Phoenix
Pima Awards & Promotions
Sparklettes
Wells Fargo
Thanks to all for their efforts and we look forward to an outstanding 2010 parade. Don't forget to check out our parade photos and award winners!