SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - A pink ribbon parade is planned at 11 a.m. Sunday to celebrate the reappearance last week of Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was kidnapped 18 years ago at the age of 11 while she was on the way to her bus stop.
The parade is being organized by Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe. It will begin at the El Dorado County branch library on Rufus Allen Boulevard and then proceed along Highway 50 to the South Tahoe Middle School track.
From Carson City, take Highway 50 to South Lake Tahoe. Turn left on Rufus Allen Boulevard, which is about a quarter mile past the Safeway.
A free shuttle will transport people between the library and middle school between 10 and 11 a.m. Visitors are encouraged to park at the middle school and take the shuttle to the parade start.
South Lake Tahoe City Councilwoman Kathay Lovell, who announced the parade at Tuesday's council meeting, said the route is the reverse of that walked on the 10-year anniversary of Dugard's disappearance.
Participants are asked to wear as much pink as possible. Pink was Dugard's favorite color, and her classmates at Meyers Elementary School started a pink ribbon campaign at the time of her disappearance to show their hopes for her safe return.
A trolley will be available for those who wish to participate but aren't able to walk the route, Lovell said.
Lovell is a Soroptimist member whose children were attending South Tahoe Middle School at the time of Dugard's kidnapping.
"It was pretty devastating, for those of us who had children and the community as a whole," Lovell said.
But Sunday's event, "is the part where we get to celebrate that Jaycee is alive," she said.
At the middle school, pink T-shirts and cupcakes will be sold, with proceeds going to the Dugard fund. Information will be available on the Fighting Chance Program, which the Soroptimist group helped to create after Dugard's abduction to teach children how to avoid being kidnapped and escape from captors.
Soroptimist International has also set up a bank account for donations to help Dugard and her family. Checks may be sent to Bank of the West, 2161 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150. They should be made payable to SISLTF / Jaycee Dugard Family Fund. The account number is 186153508.