Organizers Plan Memorial Day Blockbuster Bash to Celebrate Kiddo

The I Love a Parade Committee puts on one heck of a cross-town .

Jim Wickham has a history of organizing thrill-laden carnivals.

The knows how to throw a party.

And is celebrating its 30th anniversary and for arts, technology and physical education than at any time in its history.

A bevy of local leaders and event organizers are coming together to throw a blockbuster party over Memorial Day weekend, all to help Kiddo celebrate its milestone and come up with some of the $2.7 million the private educational foundation has committed to raising for the .

“It will be a wonderful day with music and activities and food for children and adults and we’re excited to celebrate our anniversary with the community and thank them for 30 years of supporting Mill Valley’s public schools,” said Trisha Garlock, Kiddo’s founder and executive director.

The centerpiece of the weekend is, as usual, the Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 28. It kicks off at at 10:30 a.m., snaking down Throckmorton Ave. and onto Miller Ave. before ending up at .

Parade co-organizer Larry “the Hat” Lautzker said it was a no-brainer to make Kiddo the central focus of the event with the moniker: “It's Our Kids ~ It's Our Schools ~ It's Our Future.” (Click here for info about applying for a float in the parade and additional details.)

“The arts are vital to this community and when I heard that Kiddo was once again being asked to raise even more money, especially during its 30th anniversary, it was the perfect fit,” said Lautzker, who is joined on the parade committee by Paul Moe, Daniel Castor former Mayor, Clifford Waldeck. The and a host of local businesses are sponsoring the parade.

When the float riders, school bands, dignitaries and a bevy of youth groups head to the after the parade, they’ll have a slew of activities to navigate.

The Sweetwater owners and staff are organizing a post-parade concert and party, drawing from the concert venue’s stalwart cast of musicians (lineup TBA) and the café’s tasty menu.

And for the first time in eight years, the Carnival is back, taking place throughout the four-day Memorial Day weekend on the basketball courts behind the . The event will feature 17 rides, from the Sizzler and Zipper to bumper cars and a ferris wheel, all from the California Carnival Company.

Organizer and said he’s excited to revive the longtime Mill Valley tradition as a way to bring the community together to celebrate Kiddo. He started the event in 1996 in conjunction with as a fundraiser for the upkeep of the fields for the Mill Valley Soccer Club.

The carnival’s final year was 2004 as a fundraiser for the . The event then went on hiatus for the past eight years.

Details on all of the events, from the lineup of bands for the free post-parade party to ticket sales for the carnival, are still being sorted out, organizers said. Wickham and Garlock said they expect that wristbands allowing access to all rides will go on sale on May 21 at various locations.

“The bottom line is that everything goes to Kiddo,” Wickham said.

Check back here for more details on the Memorial Day weekend events as they become available.