Crowd turns out for Christmas Parade

Spectators braved chilly weather as they packed both sides of Second Street through downtown Owensboro on Saturday afternoon to watch the 88th edition of the Owensboro-Daviess County Christmas Parade.

The parade, which had the theme “A Vintage Christmas,” included more than 100 entries that featured marching bands, emergency vehicles, traditional Christmas floats and seemingly everything in between.

And of course, Santa Claus made an appearance.

“It really is a family event,” said Kirk Kirkpatrick, parade committee spokesman, as to why the parade remains a holiday staple for many in the area. “I remember coming when I was a kid. It’s a wonderful social event that kicks off a season of celebrating each other and others, and I think everyone finds something for that goal of theirs as the parade goes through.

“We’re very excited about being able to bring so many people together enjoying one event at the same time with each other.”

Rollins Maddox, 11, blew the whistle to start the parade.

Brian Smith was the grand marshal. He and navigator Scott Howard were riding in his 1930 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan that he competed with in the Great Race from Owensboro to New England last summer.

Girls Inc. was the honorary grand marshal, and Art Maglinger, Daviess County jailer, served as “Hometown Hero” for the parade. He was recently named “Kentucky Jailer of the Year.”

The Modified Social Club, a car club, was one of many organizations that participated. The club had 13 vehicles decorated for the parade.

“This is our third year in a row, and we do it just to have fun,” club founder Chris Watson said. “(The cars are) kind of a breakup between all of the traditional Christmas floats, and the kids seem to react really, really well to the cars. We dress them up. There’s always those kids yelling out to us to rev them up and do a burnout. Of course we don’t do (burnouts), but we’ll rev them a little bit.

“It seems like we get a really good reaction.”

Watson said the club keeps a low profile, but it works year-round to help those in need, including doing a food drive for Thanksgiving.

“We’re also doing a Christmas toy drive,” he said. “We’ll either pick names off (angel) trees or go to shelters and get a Christmas list — or if someone knows a family who needs help we’ll try to help them.”

Owensboro’s Girl Scout Troop 1592 made its sixth appearance in the parade. The troop’s float had a Santa’s workshop, vintage toys theme to complement the parade theme.

“The girls help paint everything, but each year it just keeps getting more elaborate than the year before; we’re getting more skilled on how to make a float,” troop leader Kelly Kortz said. “It’s a lot of fun, and the girls absolutely do love it.”

Debbie Taylor, owner of Equestrian Enterprises, brought horses, including a miniature horse, and a llama to participate.

“We came down to share some of our animals and make a good time for the kids here,” she said. “Hopefully we’ll see Santa and get on the road to Christmas.”

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