EVERYTHING COMING UP CHERRIES THOUSANDS INVITED TO 'PIT STOP'.

Byline: Peggy Hager Staff Writer

LEONA VALLEY - Thousands of people are expected to visit Leona Valley June 9 for the town's annual Cherry Parade and festival.

Cherries are bigger than usual, helped by two snowstorms and some 11 inches of rain this winter, with warm May weather helping the fruit ripen more quickly, growers said.

``We're expecting probably one of our best years; our trees are loaded,'' said Rhonda Bright Rhodes, owner of Bright Ranch on Leona Avenue. ``We should be open the whole month of June.''

Although a few of the more than two dozen cherry orchards are already open, most are expected to open June 9. Some of the smaller orchards lost fruit to freezing weather in April, but larger ranches' crops came through well, festival organizers said.

The June 9 celebration will begin at 11 a.m. with the annual parade. The theme this year is ``Leona Valley Cherries are a Good Pit Stop,'' submitted by 8-year-old Jordon Love.

As winner of the theme contest, Love gets to ride in the parade as junior grand marshal. All of the children who entered the theme contest will be riding on the float entered by the Leona Valley Improvement Association.

This year there are two grand marshals, Linda and Karl Pearcy, longtime residents of Leona Valley.

The parade will begin at Leona School on Leona Avenue at 90th Street West and end at the Leona Valley Community Center on Elizabeth Lake Road.

The Community Center is also the site for the craft fair, which will start after the parade and continue until approximately 5 p.m.

The community center is also the site for children's activities and food offered for sale by the Leona Valley Improvement Association. There will be no bicycle ride or horse activities this year.

A variety of sweet and sour cherries will be available at the different ``u-pick'' orchards, where customers climb ladders to pick cherries themselves. Many of the orchards have pesticide-free fruit.

To reach Leona Valley, drive west on Palmdale Boulevard about nine miles past the Antelope Valley Freeway to 90th Street West. Palmdale Boulevard turns into Elizabeth Lake Road. Signs direct visitors to various orchards.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color in AV edition only) Larissa Bird, 4, picks cherries with a little help from her mom, Eileen, at Hobarts Cherry Ranch.

(2 -- color in AV edition only) Weather conditions in Leona Valley have been ideal this year for producing larger cherries, and lots of them, growers say.

(3) Brian Bird of Santa Clarita and his 2-year-old son, McRae, explore Hobarts Cherry Ranch.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer