A Taste of the West

Dave Alford
President, Parada Del Sol

Each year, Experience Scottsdale profiles a selection of local celebrities, from restaurateurs and sports figures to artists and adventurers. We invite you to meet this year’s luminaries and find out what they have to say about living, working and enjoying life in Scottsdale.

"The Parada del Sol is a true piece of Western history," says Dave Alford, Parada Boss for the 2010 event. "Nowhere else but Scottsdale can you come to enjoy the art and nightlife and then see 1,000 horses going down the main street."

Now in its 57th year, the annual Parada del Sol draws thousands of spectators, horses, riders and rodeo competitors to Scottsdale for a week of Western-themed family fun that includes a traditional mail delivery by the Hashknife Pony Express, the world's longest horse-drawn parade and PRCA-sanctioned rodeo competition. Alford, a Scottsdale native who also served as Parada boss in the 1980s, comes by his love of the event naturally. "I grew up in downtown Scottsdale and haven’t missed a Parada in my whole life," he says with a smile. "The feel behind the chutes is exactly the same as it was when I was growing up. It's a camaraderie and a brotherhood that you just can’t break."

Together with a 15-member board and hundreds of volunteers, Alford is working diligently on the 2010 Parada del Sol, which for the first time finds the rodeo scheduled on the same weekend as another Scottsdale classic, the FBR Open. Rather than compete for attendance, the two events have joined forces to offer VIP packages that combine the best in PGA TOUR golf and professional rodeo competition. And, in keeping with Parada's tradition of giving back to the community, this year’s theme is "Tough Enough to Wear Pink," with proceeds from certain events going to the Happily Ever After League, a Scottsdale-based foundation that provides financial assistance to mothers with cancer.

Happily for Alford, the Parada also is a family affair. "Every year I stop and reflect on the rodeo while it's going on and I see my kids and my friends' kids down there competing and working together," he says. "I see another generation that's got that rodeo fever and that drive. I know the future of Parada is in good hands."