The Morris family has been named the honourary parade marshals for the 2025 Whoop-Up Days parade. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Morris family named honourary Whoop-Up Days parade marshals

Aug 6, 2025 | 1:16 PM

A local family will be front and centre at this year’s Whoop-Up Days parade.

Lethbridge & District Exhibition (LDE) has announced that the Morris family, comprising Brent, Francesca, Zachary and Alexa, will lead the parade.

Brent and his father founded Gas King in 1985 in Lethbridge. They now operate four locations in Lethbridge, two in Medicine Hat and one in Picture Butte.

Paul Kingsmith, Director of Event Development at LDE, says the Morris family has been giving back to their communities for the last 40 years.

“This year, our theme for the Whoop-Up Days parade is ‘Hometown Heroes,’ and when we started to evaluate who met that criteria, one of the names that jumped to mind for us were the Morris family,” says Kingsmith. “They’ve been known to us here at Lethbridge & District Exhibition and through Whoop-Up Days – for 25 years, they’ve been supporting our event, but this is really a story of what they do throughout the community as a whole.”

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Brent Morris says they have supported a wide range of community causes over the years, including the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Lethbridge Bulls, Helen Schuler Nature Centre, Galt Museum, and Lethbridge Polytechnic.

The Don Morris / Gas King Memorial Fund was created in 2004, with the proceeds supporting the Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta.

Last year, the gas station owners pledged $150,000 to the Bringing Hearts Home Cardiac Campaign, which is raising money to build a new cardiac care centre at Chinook Regional Hospital.

He told media that Lethbridge has continually supported them, so he wants to do everything he can to give back.

Morris adds that Whoop-Up Days means a lot to him and his family, so he is honoured to have been chosen for this important role.

“I’ve been to the parade many, many times, I’ve been to Whoop-Up Days many times, and I’ve been to Whoop-Up Days midnight madness as a kid. When we were approached about 25 years ago about selling tickets to Whoop-Up Days, we were very happy to be doing that and we’ve been doing that ever since.”

The Whoop-Up Days parade gets underway at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 19.

It starts at Park Place Mall, travels south along 3 Ave South, east on 3 Ave South, north on 13 Street North, then east on 9 Ave North, ending at Galbraith Elementary School.

READ MORE: Whoop-Up Days returns Aug. 19-23, 2025