King for a day, La Conner celebrates Tom Robbins

La Conner showed its colors Saturday with a joyous celebration of famed local author Tom Robbins, named King for a Day and hailed by fans as he and wife Alexa led a parade down First Street perched atop the vintage La Conner fire truck. In a nod to his bestselling novels, fans showed up in outrageous costumes, the most popular of which were nods to Sissy, the hitchhiking model of "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues"

The day was a celebration of imagination and creativity in all its forms. Favorite Robbins' quotes were scrawled on the sidewalks, appeared on posters in shop windows and shared on signs held up during the parade. Raffle tickets were sold to benefit a planned children's arts program at La Conner Swinomish Library.

A Spam carving competition attracted, among others, the likes of professional sculptors Peregrine O'Gormley, master Swinomish carver Kevin Paul and art teacher and designer of whimsical whirligigs Chris Theiss. A costume competition awarded the outrageous and the original. And fans traveled from as far and wide as Ireland, New York and Indiana to get a glimpse of and honor their favorite author.

It was as if the spirit of La Conner past, when the town was a rougher, untamed mix of hippies, artists, poets, oddballs and travelers, rose once again to declare its individuality – something Robbins himself emphatically believes everyone should embrace.

Hail to the King.