By David Rogers. BLOWING ROCK, N.C. — There’s something about an Ebenezer Scrooge on a $50,000 Harley Davidson that he shouldn’t be taken seriously when he rides by saying, “Christmas is over. Go home.” Even the smallest of small fry were laughing with the knowledge that the magical holiday is still a month in the future.
It was all in good fun during the 2023 edition of the Blowing Rock Holiday Parade. Not even the ever present Grinch could steal Christmas — nor the smiles, chuckles and outright laughter.
Who could possibly steal Christmas from the Watauga High School Marching Band?
Then there is the sweet stuff. One four-year old boy was sitting streetside with his family, tucked just under the restraining ropes. Obviously, he had been well taught to tell the truth. When asked whether he liked parades, he enthusiastically replied, “Yes!” When asked about his favorite part of the parade, he didn’t hesitate: “The candy!” he shouted with no small measure of glee.
And there was plenty of candy being thrown from the parade entries, whether from the “floats” or from the multitude of ambulatory characters walking past the throng of people lining Main Street. The bulging crowd stretched all the way from The Speckled Trout to Rumple Church, its density and depth overflowing into Memorial Park, even onto a couple of rooftops.
Behind the firefighters leading the parade was Police Chief Aaron Miller, followed by Mayor Charlie Sellers and his wife, Deatra. Hizzoner and the missus were chauffeured for the occasion by none other than former Blowing Rock Town Manager, Shane Fox, in the vintage green Cadillac from (we think) the 1920s or 1930s.
Other elected officials were not far behind, including newly elected Commissioner Cat Perry and now veteran Commissioner Melissa Pickett. And then, of course, North Carolina Representative Ray Pickett rumbled along in a “MacDaddy” of a Jeep, waving enthusiastically to the crowd.
There were Mexican folk dancers in colorful red, gold and white traditional costumes. The High Country Cloggers high-stepped their way down Main Street, followed by Appalachian Rhythm several parade entries behind. Another crowd favorite: members of the Carolina Snowbelles performed at different spots along the parade route, promoting next weekend’s “A Carolina Snowbelles Christmas” show at The Appalachian Theatre.
There were kids tucked inside costumes — inside a Gingerbread House. There were historic figures celebrating the holidays, too (“Horn in the West” and “Daughters of the American Revolution”).
There were beauty queens, too, from ‘Young Miss” to “Classic.”
Along the parade route, we espied a few individuals having reached a degree of celebrity, too, like Watauga High School men’s soccer goalkeeper Kyle Painter, recently named to the the All-State Team by the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association. Painter and his family were there to see his brother perform with the Watauga High School Marching Band.
Did we mention the clowns, always a favorite of young and old?
Before the parade, we talked to one little girl and asked, “What is your favorite part of the parade?” Surely she had been to a Blowing Rock parade before because she replied, “The fire truck at the end.”
Right on queue, the Blowing Rock Fire Department truck steamed by, bringing an end to the 2023 holiday parade, followed by a team of dedicated, efficient town workers gathering up the restraining ropes and the standards that guided them down Main Street.
A SELECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES (all by David Rogers for Blowing Rock News)
(Click on any image for slideshow mode)
