There was once a new president of the Chamber of Commerce who, upon arrival, suggested that the Chamber of Commerce stop putting on a Christmas parade — it IS a lot of work.  Fortunately, one of his staff, a longtime Oak Ridger, told him, “this is the thing that makes Oak Ridge feel like a normal town.”Now he understands.  And for a day, we can feel like a normal town — one where the Mayor, the Boy Scouts, the 4H Club, the churches, and anyone else can participate and feel festive just because it’s the first Saturday in December.

The parade marshals (not the folks at the head of the parade, but the people who help line it up, and who help keep spectators from being run over) are all volunteers.  Some are Chamber members, some are recruited from the Breakfast Rotary Club, but all are there just to lend a helping hand.  I was one of them this morning, as I have been off and on in years past.

Virtually all of the children are on their best behavior, along with most of the adults.  There are always a few who display their worst behavior on that day: the parent who thinks theirs is the only child in the parade, and that they alone have the right to disregard instructions from the polite volunteer in the parking lot and drive careening down the aisles of parked floats (and horses, llamas, marching bands, etc.) to drop off their little precious right at the float.

This year appeared to go rather smoothly, and almost everyone maintained smiles and cooperation throughout.  Fortunately, there was only one incident calling for my “zero to b**ch in 2.6 seconds” reaction…  I really think that people are beginning to understand that when one of the 40 or so volunteers tells people where they need to go (whether a parade entry, dropping off one of the hundreds of kids participating, or simply a lost soul who didn’t realize there was no flea market today or that the basketball game is on the other side of the high school) are there to help ensure the safety and logistics of the parade.

Three hours in the cold was enough for me today though, and rather than walk the parade route as I have before, I hitched a ride in the Razzleberry Ice Cream float.  It was the white truck dressed up as a pigmobile (the shop’s theme), driven by my godson who works there.

I saw Bosphorus bringing one of his little ones to be in the parade, and Mrs. Eaves with the others along the parade route.  Also saw Daco and Mrs. Daco, along with their absolutely adorable grandchildren.  Actually, I think I saw most of Oak Ridge… it was a beautiful sunny morning (even if a little cold), and a great way to start the weekend.

Merry Christmas, Oak Ridge!