Seafair Pirates
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Seattle Seafair Pirates are a voluntary group of people that was started in 1949 by the members of the Washington State Press Club. They joined together with other community leaders to create Seattle's first Seafair Festival in 1950.
Contents |
[edit] Charity and community ambassadors
Despite their "bad boy" reputation, they entertain and raise funds for different charities twelve months a year. The Pirates charities include their own Holiday Treasure Chest Fund, which provides food, toys and good cheer to families in need. Every Christmas thousands of toys are delivered to families along with food for the holidays.
The Seafair Pirates as Goodwill ambassadors for the city of Seattle have traveled across the United States and Canada, as well as to Grand Cayman, Mazatlán, Kobe, and Taiwan.
[edit] Pirates and Seattle community events
The Seafair festival is a month long festival that starts with the Seafair Pirates Landing at Alki Beach in Seattle usually during the first Saturday of July. Throughout the summer the Seafair Pirates participates in approximately 40 local festivals as well as several hundred private appearances. The grand finale is the Seattle Seafair Torchlight Parade that occurs in August.
The Seafair Torchlight Parade is a regular highlight of the Seafair summer festival. The torchlight parade attracted over 300,000 spectators in 2003 with over 100 parade entries from all around the United States. This parade is ranked the largest in the Pacific Northwest and one of the ten largest in the United States.
[edit] History of the Seattle Seafair Pirates
In 1949 the younger members of the Washington State Press Club's action committee, the Ale & Quail Society, founded the Seattle Seafair Pirates. The members of the Ale & Quail Society then joined together with other community leaders to create Seattle's first Seafair festival in 1950. Since that time the Seattle Seafair Pirates have directed their energies and talents toward the promotion and production of Seattle's annual Seafair festivities.
Every summer since 1950 the Seafair festivities have begun with the annual proclamation of Davy Jones' renewed warfare upon the upstart, so-called "King" Neptune. In due course the city falls and the Mayor hands over the keys to the city at the Pirate's Landing. The Seafair Pirates have triumphed again!
In early days the Seafair Pirates' triumph often included the burning of Neptune's flagship, complete with fire-works. That stopped when the supply of derelict ships became depleted.
The Seafair Pirates are led by Captain Kidd and Davy Jones. Captain Kidd is elected by the Ale & Quail Society to lead their pirate operations. Davy Jones, an honorary Seafair Pirate, is chosen from the Seattle community to sail with the Pirates for one year.
Always seeking to promote Seattle and Seafair, the Seafair Pirates have had many adventures over the years. According to the Pirates' website, in 1953 the Seafair Pirates heard of a fund that had been established to ransom British subjects captured by pirates. By then the fund was worth well over a million dollars. In an attempt to collect this treasure the Seafair Pirates "kidnapped" the British consul and vice-consul, informing the government of Britain that the pirates of old were still in business. While they were mentioned in The Times, they did not receive any payment.[1]
[edit] Pirate ships!
The Seafair Pirates command two ships.
The Moby Duck is a former DUKW from World War II which has been highly modified to look like an old Spanish Galleon. The Moby Duck has a siren in the front to warn the ladies and children of their approach. There are also real cannons to ward off those who might give chase. The Moby Duck is formerly amphibious but now only on dry land.
In 2006, the pirates hornswaggled themselves a hydroplane, the U-37, better known as the Miss Seattle. The boat had a previous existence as the U-8 Llumar Window Film, and has won the 2005 Seafair Chevrolet Cup (and two other races outside Seattle)and also won the 2006 Seafair Cheverolet Cup. Jean Theoret will continue to pilot the boat in races. The boat's official owner is Billy Schumacher, a boat racing celebrity.
