Maybe you’ve already decorated your house and braved the malls
for a gift-shopping trip or two, but locals know the holiday season
doesn’t officially begin until the Lights On parade Saturday
evening.
Maybe you’ve already decorated your house and braved the malls for a gift-shopping trip or two, but locals know the holiday season doesn’t officially begin until the Lights On parade Saturday evening.
“It’s really just a great family event,” said Brenda Weatherly, executive director of the Hollister Downtown Association.
Each year the event draws between 3,000 and 5,000 people downtown, eager to admire the parade, browse through local shops and enjoy some live entertainment.
This year 50 different organizations have signed up to participate in the parade, with floats, classic cars, animals, dancers and other entries. A few new faces have even joined the parade, including a kid-sized train from All Aboard Junction in San Juan and motorcycle entries from Hollister Motor Sports.
“They were so excited when they heard that the theme this year was ‘Toyland,'” Weatherly said. “Because (motorcycles) are really just big kid toys.”
One of the new entries this year is the Presbyterian Preschool’s wooden school bus float, designed and constructed by Terry Page, whose son Hunter attends the school. This is Page’s first time building a float, but he’s thrown himself into the project with enthusiasm.
“This bus is actually part of the playground at the school, and the kids love it,” he said. “As soon as class gets out they all scramble over to play on it for a few minutes before their parents cart them away.”
Page thought the bus would be the perfect centerpiece for a parade float and received the school’s permission to use it for the event. He put it on a trailer borrowed from South Valley Trailers and constructed a scene using faux Christmas greenery, PVC pipe candy canes and, of course, plenty of Christmas lights in all shapes and sizes. Not bad for $60 and a week’s worth of work.
“I’ll probably reuse this stuff later. I love decorating for the holidays,” he said. “We put a huge Halloween display in our back yard, and some of it’s still up.”
The truck pulling the float will also carry a live Nativity scene in the bed, and more than 35 children have signed up to ride or walk in the parade. Though he’s proud of his work, Page said he’s not too worried about whether his creation will take home a big prize Saturday night.
“Man, I’m not even thinking about that,” he said. “What’s important is that the kids like it and have fun.”
Hunter, at least, seems ready to give his dad’s float a blue ribbon.
“Oh he loves it,” Page said. “Every day he comes home and climbs around on it for a half hour. He keeps calling it ‘My bus! My bus!'”
Each entry is judged by a panel based on how many lights are on the display and how creatively those lights are used. Several winners are selected each year and receive “Downtown Dollars” as a well as some serious bragging rights. Last year’s winners were the United Methodist Church, Paine’s Restaurant, Calaveras Elementary School and San Benito Bank.
“San Benito Bank is always very competitive, every year,” Weatherly said.
In addition to the parade, downtown businesses will be holding late-night open houses to give locals a chance to finish some early Christmas shopping and live entertainment will be happening on small stages throughout the evening.
“This event is still fun every year,” Weatherly said. “Everyone always goes home with a good feeling afterward.”
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or
ds****@fr***********.com
.
