Lower Lake Daze Parade and Street Fair

On the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, Main Street in downtown Lower Lake closes to traffic and fills with booths from ten in the morning until three in the afternoon. At eleven the parade comes through. The 2026 edition was held Sunday, May 24, and its organizers billed it as Memorial Daze. It drew hundreds into streets that the Lake County Record-Bee described as “a sea of red, white, and blue.” The Lower Lake Community Action Group, a nonprofit, runs the day. The county tourism office lists it as the parade and street fair that “kicks off summer in Lake County.”

Fire engines first, the band last

The parade is a long, slow drive down Main Street by more than 30 vehicles decorated for the holiday, some of them towing floats that carry extra riders. In 2026 Chief William Sapeta of the Lake County Fire Protection District led the line in the Chief 700 Ford Super Duty. Behind him came the district’s fire engines, water trucks and ambulances, honking their horns and flashing their lights. The Lake County Sheriff followed, towing an antique Marine Patrol Jeep behind a modern Jeep Rubicon. Clearlake Police Chief Tim Hobbs led two white patrol SUVs. The grand marshal, Peter Riechert, waved from what the Record-Bee called “a very vintage vehicle.”

Lower Lake FFA students marched for the hometown heroes the day honors. They recognized Johnny McCuan as Lake County Fire Fighter of the Year, Deputy David Pikes, and the educators Emily Nichols and Mira Porsley, among others. After them came a lamb led by its FFA owner, the dancing horses, a rider doing yo-yo tricks on a unicycle, tractors, bookmobiles and dirt bikes. Last in line were the Lower Lake High School and Middle School band and color guard, then the football teams with their cheer squads.

Earlier accounts add to the cast. In 2018 the parade carried pets, the Clear Lake Car Club, a mariachi band, the military, and a color guard honoring the fallen. FFA members known as the Pooper Scoopers walked behind the horses. Mike Dean, then president of the action group, said the most unusual entrants he remembered were a “miniature pot belly pig and a very big snake!” In 2021 the retired firefighter Charlie Diener was to bring an old fire truck for a water fight with firefighters that pulls the crowd in. Organizers named it one of the parade’s highlights.

Oysters, plant starts and open storefronts

After the parade the street stays closed for the fair. In its first year it ran from the post office down to Mill Street. Russ Cremer, the action group’s president, counted more than 100 food, retail and informational vendors registered in 2026. The Main Street businesses keep their doors open through the day, and the tourism listing promises live music.

The Lower Lake Football Fundraising Association’s oyster barbecue is among the busiest booths. Its proceeds buy whatever the team needs, from helmets and pads to new uniforms. The players also help the action group with setup, breakdown and cleanup. Oyster prices were rising in 2026, but Amanda Jakubowski said the booth was not looking to raise its own: “It’s more about the community and getting ourselves out there, and people just love the oysters.” The head coach, Jeremy Jakubowski, said, “We try to get them involved in the community, trying to make an impact.”

Elsewhere on the street that day were market vegetables and plant starts, crocheted wearable art and stuffed animals, and a political party booth stocked with merchandise. The Lake County Narcotics Anonymous group handed out schedules for meetings held daily around the lake. Space Treats of Hidden Valley Lake sold freeze-dried sweets. Its owner, Nick Fernandez, said the business grew out of making snacks for his four children.

The Civic Club and the barbecue in the park

The parade’s age depends on who is counting. In 2018 Dean said, “It’s been a part of Lower Lake history for 50 years.” In 2021 Kelley Slater, the group’s treasurer, spoke of “the 100 years of it taking place.” The action group’s own history says its predecessor, the Lower Lake Civic Club, was an early sponsor of the parade dating back to the 1960s. The Civic Club had no building of its own. It reportedly met around town, at the Big Oak Café, approximately where Small Town Ceramics stands today, and at the Odd Fellows Hall on the south side of Main Street, opposite the current Methodist Church.

By the 1990s the club had become the Lower Lake Community Action Group. In its early years the group co-sponsored the parade and Memorial Day celebration with the Lakeshore Lions Club, and it has sponsored the event continuously since 1992. It incorporated as a charitable corporation in 1997. When the county closed its corporation yard on Mill Street, the group negotiated a long-term lease on the site. The rancher Russell Rustici paid to convert the yard’s maintenance building into a clubhouse. He also provided the shade structures, tables and benches for what is now Russell Rustici Lower Lake County Park.

For years the day ended in that park. In 2018 the parade ran from eleven to noon. An “old time barbecue” followed at the park behind the Brick Hall, at Main Street and Mill, with vendor booths, the band Tattooed Cherries, and spirits from the Lakeshore Lions. Parade awards were given out at 1:30. Lower Lake High School students helped with the parade and the food. The grand marshal that year was Charlie Diener, a Lake County Fire Protection District battalion chief with 36 years as a volunteer and paid firefighter. His father, Bill Diener, was fire chief of the Lower Lake Fire District in 1963, the year Charlie was born. Russ and Joan Cremer were grand marshals in 2019.

A canceled spring and a new street fair

At the end of March 2020, with the county sheltering in place against COVID-19, the group canceled the event that Lake County News called “the best little parade around.” Dean said it was the group’s main fundraiser and paid for its scholarship fund, which benefits Lower Lake High seniors. The group asked the community for donations instead. The following year Slater said she did not know whether the parade had ever been canceled before.

The board decided in February or March 2021 to hold it again, on Sunday, May 30. Dean went from agency to agency for permits. The last came from the California Highway Patrol, which was involved because the parade affects the intersection of Highway 53 and Main Street. “We are having a street fair in lieu of having the barbecue in the park,” Dean said. Spreading the crowd along Main Street kept hundreds of people from packing into the town’s little park. Dean picked up 30 wine barrels donated by Bogle Vineyards to hold umbrellas bought by Redwood Credit Union. Jessica Chernoh and Rachelle Sapeta lined up more than 50 vendors, a mix, Slater said, of “food, crafts and causes.” The grand marshal was Judy Mullens of Jago Bay, a volunteer firefighter, Lower Lake Museum board member, Soroptimist and community volunteer.

Dean had said that if the street fair went over well, there might be more of them through the year. A Christmas parade and street fair was added in 2021, and in 2025 the group acquired the Brick Hall on Main Street. Ahead of the 2021 return, after a year of lockdown, Slater said, “Let’s find fun again.”