County Rescues Parade
CRAIG COUNTY – The Craig County Board of Supervisors has literally rescued Christmas tradition for the citizens of Craig County, and the Christmas Parade is on!
The New Castle Christmas Parade will be Saturday, Dec. 5, starting at 2 p.m. at the Fairgrounds. Participants should be in place at 1 p.m., parade sponsors said.
With less than three weeks before the holiday festivities were to begin, the sad news circulated through the county that there would be no Christmas Parade.
Salem High School freshmen show off shirts they tie-dyed for the Walk for Africa Nov. 25 that raised more than $4,500, with donations still coming in. More than 200 ninth graders walked the high school's track. - Photo by Meg Hibbert
Not only would there be no parade, there would be no Christmas tree on the Court House lawn or lovely green garlands with red velvet bows on the very old black wrought iron fence, and no Santa.
It sounds like a narrative from “The Grinch who stole Christmas,” but in fact it was the absolute truth.
The local Lions Club had handled all of that for years but this year the New Castle chapter disbanded after several years of an aging, dwindling membership.
“We have tried for years to get other organizations in the community to help out or take over the project,” said Lion Paul Paradzinski, who along with his wife Shirley saw to every detail of Christmas for the town for many years.
While money came from the Lions Club for all of the delightful Christmas activities, the work basically fell on the Paradzinskis who worked tirelessly every year and always with a smile and warm greeting for all.
That included putting up the court yard tree for the Child Care Center to decorate, obtaining and hanging the greenery and organizing the parade.
And it didn’t stop there. Parade activities included getting the gazebo at the Court House ready for pictures with Santa and serving cookies and hot chocolate on the Court House lawn following the parade.
Then suddenly at the 11th hour, the town found itself totally without Christmas. Sally Farrell, an Extension agent in charge of 4-H activities, had tried in vain to pull it all together but getting insurance stopped her dead in her tracks.
Others pitched in lending help looking for an insurance source and a way to bring Christmas to the town but to no avail.
The Girl Scouts were really disappointed because they were looking forward to having a float.
When Diane Givens who heads up the Tourism Committee heard the devastating news she went to the County Administrator’s office and mentioned the situation to Suzanne Holt and Kathy Jones who went to work to see if the insurance for the parade could come under the county’s policy.
Long story short, it could, it did and it will from now on.
In a special meeting the Craig County Board of Supervisors voted to become official sponsors for the parade which would not cost the county anything extra other than $150 for the greenery and bows for the fence.
The good folks down at Farm Bureau, Diane Givens, and the Girl Scouts agreed to see that the work got done. Employees at the Craig County Child Care Center will be in charge of putting up the annual Christmas Tree on at the Court House and decorating it with edible goodies for the birds as they always have.
No doubt others will pitch in as the need arises.
Look how many people it takes to replace a few good Lions! Craig Countians will never be able to thank the organization for all the hard work and lovely Christmas traditions they have enjoyed over the years and will now continue to do so thanks to a caring County Administrator’s staff and Board of Supervisors.
As the old saying goes you never miss something or someone until it/they are gone.
Even with a lot more folks on the job Givens says we will not be able to have Santa nor the usual activities on the Court House lawn.
“Time just doesn’t allow it this year,” Givens said. “I hope people won’t be too disappointed, but we are so grateful we can have the parade and the Court House decorations as they always have been.”
So folks, let’s try and have a parade this year that will make up for what we won’t have.
There’s still time to pitch in and do some kind of float, unit or activity for the parade even if it’s a hay wagon filled with Christmas Carolers, walking those lovely pets with a big bow around their necks or even a biker’s brigade.
Just do something. Let’s dedicate this parade to members of the Lions Club for all of the Christmases past.
