The West Rowan High School Band making beautiful music in the Cleveland, NC, Christmas parade.
Local Fun and Merriment
When I asked my four-year-old grandson, Carson, how many times he had seen Santa this year, he proudly said, “Five.” Counting on his fingers he recalled seeing Santa at the Bass Pro Shop, Salem Lutheran Preschool, the Cleveland Christmas parade and on the Polar Express. After he finished counting, I said, “That’s only four.” He laughed and said, “I know. I forgot one.”
No matter how many times a child sees Santa it’s always a treat. I had the opportunity to be a part of that excitement last week at Salem Lutheran Church for Carson’s preschool program and the week before at the Cleveland Christmas parade.
Cleveland, NC, is a little town half-way between Salisbury and Statesville. In 1972 the Cleveland Lions Club organized the first parade and has sponsored it ever since. Over the last forty-three years children in the community have grown up not only attending the parade, but in many cases participating. My daughter, Kristin, seen in the photo above was one of those children. Her dad, Michael McCullough, was a coach for the Rowan County Youth Football League at that time. Kristin often rode on the float beside her dad cheering for the team. Now she’s enjoying the parade as a spectator with her husband, Brian, and their two sons, Carson and Garrett. Brian and the boys are not in the picture because they were busy catching candy.
The Christmas parade route follows Main Street passing by local churches and businesses such as the Cleveland Post Office, Leo’s Barber shop, Cleveland Presbyterian Church and neighborhood homes. People often enjoy sitting on their front porch waving to friends and family as the parade passes by.
This year entries included beauty queens, high school bands, horseback riders, church floats, fire trucks, police cars, the Rowan County Youth Football League/West area, motorcycles, and, of course, Santa. Even though Cleveland is a small parade, it boasts of having world class entries such as the Little League World Series Champs, and a piece of steel in art-form from the World Trade Center. As that float passed by we all stopped to think of the sacrifice made on the morning of 9/11. With temps. in the mid-sixties, even a grandma like me enjoyed sitting outside watching the parade on a bright December day.
As a retired music teacher, one of my favorite entries was the West Rowan High School Marching Band seen in the photo above. Daniel Trivette, the band director works hard to make sure his students perform well and they didn’t disappoint.
Although everyone was excited to see Santa, we all were sad when the parade was over. Many thanks to Cleveland Lions Club for their willingness to volunteer time and talents to bring joy to this small-town community during the Christmas season. We can’t wait to see what you have in store for next year.
What’s your favorite community event at Christmas? Leave a comment below, message on Facebook or email dicysm@yahoo.com.
Thanks,
Dicy
www.dicymcculloughbooks.com/blog
