Christmas parade kicks off holiday season
Three-year-old Natalia McDonald of Washington rides Silver Bits from the 4H Club in the Christmas parade in Washington Friday.
Santa and Mrs. Claus make their arrival on the back of a firetruck and pass the crowd gathered at the Holiday Market during the Christmas parade on Main Street in Washington Friday.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Santa and Mrs. Claus make their arrival on the back of a fire truck as the city lights up for the annual Christmas parade on South Main Street in Washington Friday.
Camryn Kirschner, right, and Eric Kirschner of Washington sample home fragrances from Pink Zebra at the Holiday Market on South Main Street in Washington before the Christmas parade Friday.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Luke Pinney, center, Maddie Dobson and Myla Pinney enjoy Christmas cookies as accordionist Tom Queen plays “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” for them at the Holiday Market on South Main Street in Washington Friday.
Shoppers gather at the Holiday Market before the Christmas parade on South Main Street in Washington Friday.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
It was a merry Friday night in downtown Washington, where the annual Christmas parade kicked off the holiday season.
The nighttime celebration rolled along Main Street, and included floats, fire trucks, marching bands and plenty of lights – on fire trucks, band instruments, unicycle wheels and people.
Children scrambled for candy tossed from cars and floats, and spectators dressed in holiday garb snapped pictures and took video of their favorite units.
Before the parade started, visitors strolled through the Holiday Market, which began at 3 p.m. at the Community Pavilion on South Main Street.
More than 50 vendors set up shop, including food, music and crafts.
“My goodness, it just seems like there is a lot of joy and fellowship and cheer,” said Amy Hess, owner of Kaleidoscope II. “The turnout has been amazing and we’ve met some wonderful people.”
David Morris of Canonsburg was impressed by the Washington Community Theater Christmas carolers and the horse and buggy rides offered in advance of the parade.
“This has been just great,” said Morris.
Elsewhere, Denny and Becky Bednarski settled their granddaughters, Celia, 5, and Tessa, 2, into chairs. Armed with hot dogs, french fries and hot chocolate, the girls waited eagerly for the parade to get underway.
The sisters got their pictures taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus and got their faces painted, and the Bednarskis bought some Christmas gifts before the parade began.
“We really need hot chocolate,” said Celia, emphatically. “You should feel my hands. They’re very cold.”
The thermometer hovered around 40 degrees throughout the parade, and the brisk, rain- and snow-free night brought out thousands of paradegoers.
Matt and Janice Miklec of Washington attended the parade with their son, Mason, 2, to watch the Miklec’s daughters, Addison, 7, and Ashlyn, 4, who were dancing in the parade with Dance With Me by Sisters 3, a dance studio in Washington.
“We come to the parade just about every year,” said Matt Miklec. “It’s fun to bring them out.”
Janet Bockstoce said she wasn’t sure who was enjoying the parade more: her husband, Frank, or their 22-month-old granddaughter, who was attending her first Christmas parade.
“I just told my son a few minutes ago, I’m not sure who’s having a better time,” laughed Bockstoce. “The parade has been wonderful this year. We’ve been coming for probably the past five years, and we’ve endured rain and snow and really, really cold weather.”
The parade concluded with the arrival of Santa Claus.
This year, the parade began at 6:30 p.m., a half an hour earlier than in prior years.
Also, while the parade was shorter this year, organizers scrapped plans to intentionally shorten the length of the parade hours before it kicked off after receiving criticism from the public.
The Washington Business District Authority announced in a statement the organization decided to shorten the event because it received negative feedback about the length of the parade last year.
“The WBDA board decision to shorten the parade in 2017 has been met with criticism and we take that very seriously,” the statement read.
The WBDA board invited anyone who wanted to participate in the parade to meet at the lineup area at IC Church an hour-and-a-half before the event began.