It's all in the family at Redmond Derby Days

It will be easy to spot the Perrigo family in today's Redmond Derby Days Grand Parade. They'll be wearing blue sashes that read: "I am a Perrigo."

All 169 of them.

The descendants of Redmond's founding family make up in numbers for what they lack in local fame. Warren and Laura Perrigo settled in the area in 1871 and operated the town's first hotel — before there was a town. Warren's younger brother William moved from Maine to join them in 1877, built a log cabin and sent for his wife and two young sons.

Warren moved away after Laura died, but William and his wife, Matilda, stayed and helped found the town. They donated land for the first church and school and discovered a spring that became the town's water source. The family operated a major trading post near today's Avondale and Union Hill roads and had a logging operation. When William died in 1930, the family owned more than 700 acres, including most of Education Hill.

The town, however, was named for Luke McRedmond, another pioneer.

According to his descendants, William Perrigo shrugged off the slight. His family had hoped to call the area Melrose, not Perrigo.

Today the descendants of William and Matilda Perrigo will gather after the parade for a family reunion in Perrigo Park.

Derby Days, a 67-year-old festival that includes bike races, is at Redmond City Hall from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. today. The community celebration will be capped with a 10 p.m. fireworks display.

For the Perrigos, the party begins with a potluck at about 1 p.m.

"The reunion starts after the awards for the parade have been announced," said Kris Underhill of Monroe, a descendant and one of the reunion organizers. "We hope to win something."

With four entries, their odds are good.

One group will march as descendants of the Perrigos. Grandchildren of William and Matilda will ride in convertibles. Others will be on the family float, a replica of the Perrigo Trading Post. The fourth entry will be a car contingent of Perrigo royalty from past Derby Days.

"I was the first Derby Days princess in 1957," said Char Sugden, of Gold Bar. William and Matilda were her great-grandparents.

Like other would-be royalty back then, she sold raffle tickets. But the big lures were the rides and games the then-7-year-old knew would be at Derby Days.

"My two front teeth were a little loose," she said. "So I pulled them for tooth-fairy money to spend at Derby Days. My mother was so mad. I've still got the pictures with my aluminum-foil-covered crown and toothless smile."

Tracking the Perrigo descendants keeps many of the cousins in continuous e-mail and telephone contact. Because William and Matilda Perrigo had 11 children, the family developed a method to track one another's lineage. They identify themselves by saying, "I'm a Mable" or a "I'm a Robert" — naming which of the 11 children was their grandparent or great-grandparent.

Willow Guptill, 85, is one of four who can say she is a William Sr. or Matilda grandchild. Guptill, of Carnation, remembers her grandparents babysitting for her while her mother worked.

She was a bashful child and appreciated her grandfather's quiet, calm demeanor. "I remember sitting in my grandfather's lap and combing his beard," she said. "I liked going to their house."

Sherry Grindeland: 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com