Neither rain nor snow nor dark of mid-day stayed the Pear Blossom Parade from the not-too-swift completion of its appointed rounds. OK, there wasn't really any snow Saturday, but rain and temperatures in the 40s put a damper on the attendance, if not the spirits, of the 54th annual edition of Medford's big springtime festival.

"Everybody who shows up today is fantastic," said co-Grand Marshal Rosemary Harrington, who hosts a conservative AM radio talk show with her husband, Garth, also co-grand marshal.

The hard-core faithful were on hand, if not in the usual numbers. Instead of lining the streets they clustered here and there in knots, stood huddled in storefronts or watched from cars and trucks that arrived early enough to park along the parade route, which goes south on Central Avenue and west on Main Street.

"I wouldn't miss it for anything," said Anita Manning, of Central Point, who had no trouble at all finding a place to set up folding chairs at curbside for herself and her 16-year-old daughter, Victoria.

"My son's in the parade. He's a Young Marine."

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Manning says her family seldom misses the event.

"We come rain or shine," she says. "I've been in it myself two or three times."

The rain this day was no surprise. It was forecast, and people were ready with rain gear, umbrellas and even portable shelters.

Linda Hunsley, of Central Point, who came to see her granddaughter march in a flag group, looked on the bright side.

"Not a lot of trouble finding a place to see the parade," she said, eyeing empty turf usually lined with chairs as she sat in a group huddled under umbrellas.

"Once in a while Mother Nature does this," she said. "It doesn't stop me. I like everything about the parade. It's a feel-good thing."

Jeff Avila, of Medford, came to watch his son in a marching band.

"Seems like it always happens like this," he said.

Between sunup and the time the parade began at about 11 a.m., a third of an inch of rain had fallen at the Medford airport, and it wasn't letting up downtown. The procession was led by a phalanx of motorcycle cops followed by fire trucks. The grand marshals rode on a mauve-spangled float labeled "famous pair" as Marvin Gaye's pained voice belted out the familiar strains of "I Heard it Through the Grapevine."

The parade was the usual mix of walking groups, motor vehicles, floats and equestrian groups. Commercial entries included a marcher dressed as a pizza slice and another dressed as a mattress.

Civic leaders such as Medford Mayor Gary Wheeler and Councilman Bob Strosser favored vintage cars like Model A Fords. Old farm tractors abounded. Perhaps the most unusual car was a green, original-looking Studebaker Avanti.

Kellie Donnelly, of Medford, sought shelter in a store entry on Central with her daughter, 13-month-old Isabelle Segovia.

"We've been coming rain or shine for 10 years," Donnelly, 27, said. "It's so cool to see this. Medford has a sense of community."

Wildlife Images fielded a Hogwart's float that featured not only young actors as Harry Potter and pal Hermione but several live owls to go along with a puppet, Hedwig. Two Eurasian eagle owls, the largest owls in the world, looked out of Hogwart's windows, and a northern spotted owl rode in front of the float.

"He doesn't mind the rain at all," Wildlife Images' Brad Booker said.

Even on West Main Street, where crowds usually overflow into the street, people gathered in miserable-looking clumps and hunkered in store entrances or sat in cars and SUVs pulled up to side streets. A street fair in Alba Park was a sea of umbrellas, but food booths along Holly Street were doing steady business.

Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or bvarble@mailtribune.com.