WARDEN - Warden supported a new parade float aimed at promoting the city in various cities in Grant and Adams counties.

The city council approved a contract with the Warden Development Council during a recent meeting.

City Clerk Kris Shuler explained the development council approached the city to support the float financially.

"The city cannot do that without an agreement for service," she said. "They have to be providing the city a service for funds to be issued. They had issued us a list of parades they were going to attend and they were estimating their costs to be about $180 for the rest of their season."

After speaking with Mayor Roldan Capetillo, the city decided to pay the development council $150, in case other advertising projects came up, Shuler said.

"We decided it probably wouldn't be fair to do the whole amount," she said. "If we went with the $150, then there is room for other people to step up and help them."

The float is a new effort by the group to promote the city in various parades in the area, President Susie Barr said. The council received $150 from the city for the project.

"What we're doing is advertising the City of Warden in a positive way as we go to these parades. Miss Warden is on the float, along with two other princesses," she said.

The development council also plans to have the van housing the float painted with advertising for different companies, Barr said.

The float, decorated with a red barn, a hay bale and a tumbleweed, replaces the city's old float, which was rebuilt for the city's Community Days celebration last year. Prior to last year, the city didn't have a float for several years, Barr said in an interview after the meeting.

"We just decided this was a priority," she said. "The float is part of that positive vibe that we want to share with the neighboring communities ... It's my personal goal to improve the image of Warden."

The float has participated in parades in Moses Lake and Othello, and the group plans to take it to Ritzville in September.

"(The theme is) Warden: Small town, big heart," she said. "I think that says Warden so well."