From curbside fan to Grand Marshal, Tucson Appliance owner to lead '26 Rodeo Parade

"I just loved to see the horses and the different wagons that would drive by and watch the cheerleaders and the students and the bands, the music," the longtime Tucson business owner recalls. "It was just a fun time. And definitely the hot dogs and sodas that we got to have."

That young boy watching in awe from the curb never imagined that one day he would be sitting front and center as the Grand Marshal.

"I was very, very surprised. I was very humbled," Edwards, owner of Tucson Appliance, said last week. "And I just thought they were playing a practical joke on me when they told me back in December."

The Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee, which selects the grand marshal, announced Edwards as this year's honoree on Jan. 21.

As grand marshal for this year's parade — the 101st — on Feb. 26, Edwards will be in the first float of the parade, regarded as the country's largest and longest-running non-motorized parade.

Edwards joins a long list of dignitaries who have led the parade over its 101-year history, going back to the first one, Frederick Leighton Kramer, who founded the parade and the La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson rodeo. Last year, to commemorate the rodeo's centennial, 11 of Kramer's descendants, from grandchildren to great-great-great-grandchildren, were named grand marshals.

There were only two grand marshals in the 1950s: Ed Echols, the rodeo's longtime arena director through the early 1960s, was marshal from 1951-56; and prominent Tucson businessman Frank Putter, from 1957-59.

U.S. Sen. Carl Hayden, who served from 1927-69, wore the grand marshal sash the year he retired from politics. 

Other honorees included Gabrielle Giffords and Sen. Mark Kelly, Jim Click, former University of Arizona women's basketball coach Adia Barnes, former UA baseball coach Jerry Kindall and Tucson developer Humberto Lopez.

And on Thursday, Feb. 26, it will be Edwards, who says he is humbled to be in the company of "some of the names that are from the past, like Mr. Click and Humberto Lopez" — business leaders who mentored him throughout his 30-plus-year career.

Edwards started working for his father in the store, which the senior Edwards had started in 1991 as Priority Factory Service. The company specialized in repairs until they started buying broken appliances and selling them refurbished.

Chris Edwards joined his father in 1993 after studying business at Pima Community College. When his father invited him to become a partner in 1997, Edwards convinced him to change the name to Tucson Appliance "because if you're looking for appliances in Tucson and you're searching it on the web, (which) at that time was very new, they would look for 'appliances in Tucson' and we'd come up first," he explained.

Edwards also adopted purple and gold as the store's theme colors in a nod to his alma mater, Sabino High School. But it is his commercials, including with him cast early on as a superhero (The Incredible Hulk, Superman), and his signature tagline — "Low prices are our priority" — that most people in Tucson recognize.

"I never took acting classes, as you could tell for most of my commercials," he joked. "But as long as people remember your commercial and they know what you sell, that's the biggest thing that you could give them, and they know you're authentic. And I think the authenticity came with me not knowing how to act and just have fun with it and dress up in costume. And they knew I had appliances. So Bing, bang, boom, there you go. Word of mouth is probably our best advertising."

Yes, mom and dad, your kids do get off for the rodeo

Families new to Tucson probably noticed the social media alerts early this month and the email from their kids' schools reminding them that classes will be dismissed Feb. 26-27 in observance of the Tucson Rodeo Parade.

Yep, we pause for parades in the Old Pueblo. Always have since that first parade and rodeo back in 1925. 

There was a good reason back then: The population was a minuscule fraction of what it is today, and the organizers wanted to make sure everyone in town turned out to see the bands and clowns, horses and horse-drawn wagons rumble downtown, past all those mom-and-pop shops and restaurants.

Yes, the parade and rodeo started as a way to boost tourism and business in Tucson. But here's the thing: People really liked it. They turned out in full force 101 years ago and still do to this day.

OK, let's not totally kid ourselves: There are plenty of Tucsonans who turn that gifted four-day weekend into a quick getaway to San Diego or Rocky Point.

And while the University of Arizona observed the early rodeo day as a paid "recess," that has been long gone. But Pima Community College still has the rodeo recess on its calendar.

What you need to know before you go

The 2026 Tucson Rodeo Parade begins at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, at South 12th Avenue and West Drexel Road on Tucson's south side. Pre-parade entertainment gets going at 8 a.m. at Drexel and South Liberty Avenue near the grandstands.

The parade follows the route adopted in 2024 that begins at South 12th Avenue and West Drexel Road and winds its way east on Drexel past the grandstands along South Missiondale Road to South Sixth Avenue before turning north on West Nogales Highway and ending at the rodeo grounds at East Irvington Road and Sixth.

If you want to sit in the grandstands, it'll cost you $11.63-$16.78 in advance through tucsonrodeoparade.org. Otherwise, admission to the parade is free. 

This year's parade theme is "Ole West" in celebration of the country's 250th anniversary. It will feature 115 float entries, including from First Nations royalty, local businesses and nonprofits; more than 500 horses; and 10 marching bands from area high schools, along with the University of Arizona Pride of Arizona band.

Stan Martin, chairman of the Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee, said the parade attracts as many as 150,000 spectators.

"If the weather is nice, we sometimes reach close to 200,000," he said.  

About that route ...

Parade organizers changed the parade route in 2024 for the first time in 31 years after Union Pacific decided it no longer wanted to hold up its trains for three hours at crossings on Ajo and Irvington roads to allow the parade to go unimpeded along South Park Avenue. 

Before that, the route started at East Ajo Way and meandered down South Park Avenue to West Irvington Road, where it headed west to the Tucson Rodeo Grounds at 4823 S. Sixth Ave. Participants, including horses and floats, were required to cross two sets of railroad tracks along the route. 

When it started in 1925, the parade was centered in downtown along East Congress Street, where it remained until 1991, when organizers decided they wanted the route to be closer to the rodeo grounds.

How about some music, maestro?  

Country singer Easton Corbin ("Baby Be My Love Song," "Roll With It," "Lovin' You Is Fun," "Marry That Girl") will perform the official rodeo concert at 8 p.m. Feb. 28 at Desert Diamond Casino's Diamond Center, 1100 W. Pima Mine Road in Sahuarita. 

This is the singer's first Tucson concert since he played Desert Diamond in June 2023.

In a career spanning 17 years since he released his eponymous debut on Mercury Records Nashville in 2009, Corbin has racked up seven top 10 hits, including "Roll With It," and "A Little More Country Than That" that went to No. 1.

Corbin released his most recent album, "Let's Do Country Right," in 2023. 

Tickets for the Feb. 28 concert are $34 to $55 through ddcaz.com. The winner of the KIIM FM and Desert Diamond Casino Battle of the Bands, which wraps up Thursday, Feb. 19, at the casino, will open for Corbin. The finalists are Buckshot and Bellbottoms, Brian Beckman Band and Southern Reins Band.