The City of Rainier has scheduled a community celebration with a parade for Saturday afternoon, July 11.

The event replaces the annual Rainier Days, a three-day celebration normally held the weekend after the Fourth of July, but due to the pandemic, Rainier Days has been canceled and in its place will be a modified parade.

Community members are encouraged to follow social distancing guidelines as they participate in the event.

Loyed Rea is the Grand Marshal for the 2020 Rainier Days Parade.

Rea has been selected to lead the modified parade by the Rainier Oregon Historical Museum, which sponsors the Grand Marshal each year.

The parade will be held at noon Saturday July 11, starting at water reservoir, traveling north on E. 4thSt, turning left on C St. to 1st. St, turning right to A St. and ending at the boat marina. Social distancing advised.

Rainier Days Committee member Jerry Cole said the modified parade is a good way to celebrate the city.

"We felt we could still celebrate Rainier by having a parade," Cole said in an earlier published interview with the Chief. "It is designed to provide some sort of joy to the city within the state's social distancing guidelines, so it's all sidewalk-based. We felt people would be able to spread out along the revised parade route to keep social distancing."

Community members are invited to a Meet and Greet for Loyed to be held at the Rainier Senior Center, 48 W. 7th Street, directly after the parade. Social distancing guidelines will be followed and face masks will be required. Organizers said if you don't have a face mask one will be provided for you at the Meet and Greet.

Loyed Rea's family includes three generations of Rainier athletes.

Loyed grew up above Rainier Union High School on Neer City Road within earshot of Columbian football games and could hear the band play, the cheerleaders cheer, and the booming voice of the announcer over the loudspeakers at the stadium during football games.

Loyed, a natural athlete, and his athletic brothers and sisters were able to attend football and baseball games by using the trail near their house to get to the stadium and field. Loyed, along with brothers, Mick and Jim, and sisters, Arlene and Joan, used the RUHS field, where not a blade of grass would grow, but rocks were plentiful, to hone their athletic skills much to the delight of their mother Effie who was happy to have them out of the house.

When in the 8th grade at Rainier Grade School, Loyed played for the Bobcats 8th grade basketball team captained by Gene Flippin and coached by Earl Dinkelocker. Their team won the championship trophy of the area-wide basketball tournament held at the school. Others on the team were Jim Johnson, Frank Counts, John Womack, Joedy Oliva, Ross Corbett and Mick Rea.

Loyed's athletic career in high school included basketball, where Loyed was frequently the high scorer for the Columbians, also baseball and football.

After high school Loyed could be found at most high school games, umpiring for baseball games and coaching little league when not at work. Unable to stray far from the games he loved, Loyed played for the Clatskanie-Rainier semi-pro baseball team in the early sixties. He played for the Portland Thunderbirds professional football team which was in existence from 1962 to 1965. Their games were held at Multnomah Stadium.

In 1965, Loyed quit his job at Van Vleet Lumber Company, and he began longshoring, joining ILWU Local 21 in Longview. That same year he was selected president of the Rainier Jaycees which put on the Rainier Daze celebration. Committee members included Loyed, Jim "Red" Coffman and Tom Ramey. This was in the early days of the celebration when the Rainier Ski-Bees performed water ski performances, and Kon-Tiki raft races which were held at the Rainier Beach Blast. The Jaycees' raft, manned by Lonnie Pellham, Dick Hadlock, Jim Coffman and Loyed Rea. They were responsible for sinking many rafts, including their own.

Loyed loved to coach, so when his sons Casey, Jerry and Tony were old enough, Loyed coached their little league teams. If not coaching, he attended their games and continued through their high school years. His daughter Shellie was a standout volleyball and basketball player for the Columbians, where Loyed could only support her as a parent and fan.

In his 50s, Loyed and other area basketball players, with the sponsorship of Pudgy Hunt who was a well-known basketball player from Knappa, entered an over 50s Masters Basketball Tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They won the tournament, but Loyed described the ride there and back with the team in one car "a little cramped."

When grandsons Caymon, Connor, Daniel and Joe were old enough, Loyed had another generation of Columbians to coach and support. Since grandson Jarrod and granddaughter Maggie lived in Kansas with their parents, Loyed had to participate from afar.

Loyed retired from longshoring in 1996, but not from his passion for sports, being a huge Oregon Ducks fan and supporter of kids' athletics.

Biography written by Carl Nys, a Director of the Rainier Historical Museum.