THE KAZOO BAND from St. Columban school provided a unique take on marching bands at Saturday’s Strawberry Festival parade in Garden Grove (Orange County Tribune photos by Jim Tortolano).

Despite some serious cloud cover, it didn’t rain on the annual Strawberry Festival parade on Saturday.

Crowds lined the parade route along Chapman Avenue and Euclid Street for the procession that stepped off at 10 a.m.

KATHY GARVER waves the flag, She was the celebrity grand marshal in the parade.

The theme this year is “Essential Workers.” The celebrity grand marshal was Kathy Garver, best know as “Sissy” in the 1960s’ TV show “Family Affair.” The theme grand marshal was Tom DaRe, Garden Grove’s chief of police.

Along with the traditional high school marching musicians, cars carrying celebrities national and local and Shriners careening around, the crowd was treated to some especially whimsical sights, including the kazoo band from St. Columban Catholic School in Garden Grove.

There was a dog dressed up as a dinosaur – part of a “Jurassic Park” movie promotion – and a California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer doing some maneuvers that would win you or me a traffic ticket.

The festival continues today (Saturday) at the Village Green park until 10 p.m. It’ll resume on Sunday at 10 a.m. (closing at 10 p.m.)

Monday’s hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is free.

GARDEN GROVE MAYOR Steve Jones and family.