Parade captures special spirit of Christmas
CRAIG COUNTY – The Christmas Parade on Dec. 5 was a huge success, despite snow and rain that began falling in the early morning hours.
Nonetheless, when it came time for the parade to begin, diehard fans gathered in groups along Salem Avenue and Main Street, seemingly oblivious to the wet cold conditions.
Two prize sheep pull Anna Smith's parade wagon. -Photo by Gwen Johnson
Although getting those floats ready in the falling weather was a chore, it didn’t dampen spirits of all those who turned out to make this year’s parade honoring former Lions Club members a huge success. It was a thrill to see how people pulled together to make this one of the best parades, especially when it came to variety.
There were more than a dozen units altogether, including clowns made up in fabulously bright colors that stood out against the gray background of a winter’s day. They were downright good at clowning around, too.
Some folks rode on floats, others on fire engines, pickup trucks and carts pulled by anything from a small lawn tractor to a couple of sheep. That, said 4-H Extension Agent Sally Farrell was because it was too muddy to get the horses loaded. So her daughter had two of her prize sheep pull her wagon.
Caitlyn and Courtney Day led decked-out miniature ponies while Stephanie threw candy to the crowd. Their mom and dad followed with their cattle trailer.
“We were the clean up crew,” mom Patty said with a laugh.
There was no shortage of Santas! There were three of them, all oh-so-authentic-looking it would be hard to tell which was Santa and which ones were his helpers. They came to town on various modalities. One was in a cart pulled by a tractor, one was in a pickup truck pulling a sleigh and of course, the main attraction came to town atop a recently restored 1954 fire engine owned by the Craig-New Castle Volunteer Fire Department.
Following the parade Santa made a stop at the Fairgrounds to hear Christmas wish lists and for parents to take his picture with all the kids who waited their turn in the afternoon mixture of rain and snow.
While the VFD brought Santa to town, a float done by New Castle Christian Church ushered in the real “Reason for the Season,” with a nativity scene, and the Girl Scouts had a float with a “Go Green” theme.
Craig County Citizens for the Constitution captured the spirits of both Christmas and patriotism, on a big logging truck owned by Berlin Huffman that they decorated with hay bales, a Christmas tree, red and green garland, Santa hats, and presents. Each side of the truck bore an American flag and their red, white and blue banner featuring the flag and an Eagle’s head was on the back. It somehow reminded you in a way of huge Conestoga wagon as it rolled along the parade route.
Maybe the snow lifted everyone’s spirits or maybe it is really the season that does that to folks. Nonetheless, everyone was happy and cheering. It was after all a delightful parade and a good time was had by all.
