In July, it’s the pets. In November, the vets. In December, the cheers the big Guy in Red gets.

That’s Bend’s parade of parades. And the words of the song “We Need a Little Christmas” were never more fitting than they were on this warm (for December), sunny Saturday afternoon, with just enough leftover snow scattered around to make it pretty, not treacherous (compared to the slippery, slushy battlefront Bend’s sidewalks were just a few days earlier).

The 2001 Christmas parade wound eastward from Kingston School on the Westside, down Newport and Wall streets to the downtown announcers and cable-TV cameras in fine fashion.

It was two miles full of marching bands, cute corgi “sleigh dogs,” inflated giant walking bowling pins (huh?), waving dignitaries and, of course, kids, kids and more kids, hundreds if not thousands of them, both in the parade and on the sidelines sitting on daddy’s or mommy’s (or auntie or uncle’s) shoulders, getting the best view of the pretty horses, the dancers, the gymnastics – all of it.

Fittingly, this year’s parade theme was “A Childhood Christmas.”

Quite the tonic for these troubled, troublesome times – thoughts of bunches of candy canes, not the bombs over Kandahar. Jolly ol’ St. Nick arriving at last, riding atop a fire truck and wishing everyone a ho-ho-ho merry Christmas – not mean, weird (and also bearded) Osama, ho-ho-holed up in a cave halfway around the world, with his own sort of naughty-or-nice list that we’d rather not think about – at least, not right now, at this special time of year.

’Fabulous’ parade enchants the kids – just like `normal’ times

Lawyer Dennis Karnopp was the “viewing platform” for almost 4-year-old grandson Merle Nye, resplendent in his red reindeer “antlers,” anxious to take it all in.

“It’s just fabulous,” Karnopp said with a smile as the gentle llamas gracefully strode by.

Parades bring out the kid in just about everyone, and this was no exception. Runaway balloons soared into the sky (or, occasionally, popped into premature extinction).

“See the big horses?” Brett Lorz told the 2 ½-year-old in his arms, while waiting to see his 5-year-old, Billie, come by with the rest of the Campfiure Girls.

“Merry Christmas!” Keegan Lawrence, 3, said atop daddy Tom’s shoulders, while his 1-year-old, fittingly named Noel (though born in September), was watching from atop Loretta Kreegar’s shoulders.

It takes lots of folks, mostly volunteers, to pull of a successful parade, such as the “ham” radio operators that make the vital communications happen. Mike Bond of the Central Oregon Radio Amateurs said there were a dozen of his colleagues around the parade route with their handheld walkie-talkies.

“It’s a bigger crowd than last year – eight people deep” in spots, Bond said. (The warmer weather no doubt helped in that regard.)

“It’s going well,” he said, on what weather-wise turned out to be “the nicest day we’ve had in weeks.”

Phil Waggoner, wearing his green Oregon cap, was holding aloft daughter Emily, 6, who gave the traditional kid’s answer – “I dunno” – when asked what part of the parade was her favorite.

By the time the Mountain View High band marched by, playing “Good King Wenceslas,” some folks getting a bit tired of standing were sure this was Bend’s longest Christmas parade in some time, if ever.

But for those who cling to and cherish traditions, perhaps it could have lasted a bit longer. Say, til New Year’s.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 8th, 2001 at 5:24 pm and is filed under Top Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.