Parades

Life around the holidays in Small Village, USA is different than in Big City, USA. I’ve experienced both. The Small Village celebrations have grown on me. The Big City had more lights, longer parades, huge balloons shaped like Under Dog and Charlie Brown, famous people, expensive looking decorations, and crowds. As a child it was all an adventure holding tightly to my daddy’s hand. It would have been overwhelming except for the strong grip of my daddy holding onto me for dear life.

Then I became the hand-holder for my children. We live in a rural area (rapidly becoming developed.) The parades are much shorter, but more personal. We know, by name or reputation, most of those walking handing out homemade baked goods. We know many of those riding the lighted floats. In elementary school our son walked along next to our church’s nativity scene float. He was dressed up as a shepherd, complete with a shepherd’s hook. He may have done that a couple of years. Then he was in the high school marching band. They marched along, wearing gloves with the fingertips cut off so they could play their instruments. He participated in the parade all four years of high school.

The Village celebration has grown over the years. It started with a tree lighting. Local businesses started to add sidewalk sales before and after the lighting. Then a parade was started with humble floats (like the ones my son walked with.) A nearby city has a “light parade” tradition. Some of the decorated, lit up, floats, trucks, etc. started coming to our parade.

This year hot air balloons were added. Several took off from our community park, flew over town, and landed in a field south of town (we still have a few farmers’ fields around.) At parade time, just after dark, some of the balloonists lined up along the parade route with their baskets and burners and lit up the town during the parade. Others were actually in the parade, turning on their burners as they passed. Those burners warmed anyone within 50-feet.

Even with all that growth, our Village parade is still only a fraction of the Big City ones from my childhood. I feel like a participant, even standing among the spectators. I want our Village Christmas parade to always create that sense of belonging.