Columbia Crossings Proudly Sponsors the Annual Smile Boat Parade

The Smile Boat Parade, which follows a two-mile smiling curve through the North Portland Harbor, is coming up on its third year. Bridget Bayer, Chair of the Bridgeton Neighborhood Association, and Ron Schmidt, former president of Waterfront Organizations of Oregon (WOOO) shared their thoughts about the parade's origins and its positive impact on the community.

Smile Boat Parade Origins

The idea for the Smile Boat Parade came from Bridget Bayer and other members of the North Portland Community when they saw a need to unite the two boating communities across the Columbia river channel, Hayden Island and the Bridgeton Neighborhood.

During our conversation, Bridget reflected that during the parade's first year “we had a handful of boats and it was really fun.” “We kept it kind of on the down low, weren't really sure how it was going to go, and everybody loved it!”

Since then, the parade has been gaining more traction and attendance. “This year there are over fifty boats already registered, and most of them will show up the day of,” Bridget remarked.

North Waterfront Community Spotlight

Ron Schmidt noted that “Very few people talk about Bridgeton, Hayden Island, HiNooN, and the North Portland Waterfront.” “We decided we're going to rename it: the North Waterfront. That's the main reason for the Smile Boat Parade, is to really shine a light on the best place to live, work, and recreate: the North Waterfront.”

For Ron, the Smile parade is a vehicle for community recognition and unity, “We often look at each other across the river but we don't pay attention to each other and now we have something as a… community where we can all have fun together, wave and celebrate and just really enjoy this special place on earth that we get to call home.”

Looking Forward for Portland

With a lot of new development coming up along the waterfront, Portland is changing quickly. Bridget touched on the new construction surrounding the levies in Portland and the I-5 bridge renovation:

“When these huge big mega-projects started getting talked about we're kind of like, ‘wait, we're just this little neighborhood we're gonna get like, run over’... we better have something cool going on here. So, this is a really great opportunity with all these infrastructures getting built right now, to make the North Waterfront be a big part of it so that it doesn't get just another road on it, it actually becomes part of it.”

When asked about how the Smile parade can grow going forward, Ron spoke of looking towards future growth. “We just want to share what we have here, and share our love for this beautiful place with the rest of the world.

“So today it might be Bridgeton road and Hayden Island and the city of Portland, but we know that this is going to grow. Like our Christmas ships, which really have national and international recognition, and we hope to do the same for this beautiful area that we have as well.”

The Smile Boat Parade is this Saturday August 23rd, starting at 11am, but it is recommended to arrive early. If you want to get involved but don't have a boat there are four viewing locations including the Island Cafe, The Courtyard by Marriott North Portland, the North Portland Bike Path, the the I-5 Pedestrian Bridge.

Come out and celebrate the North Waterfront community and all it has to offer!