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About 50 people participated in the annual Holiday Parade sponsored by the Olympia Downtown Association. Numerous others lined downtown Olympia’s streets to witness the spectacle, undeterred by the typical late-November drizzle and cloudy skies.
The parade’s purpose is to get shoppers in the mood for the holiday season and remind them that downtown offers a unique shopping experience, said Vida Zvirzdys-Farler, parade event and volunteer coordinator for the Olympia Downtown Association.
Shoppers lined downtown’s streets as the parade’s 3 p.m. start time neared. Kat Scheibner, her two children and their three friends stood in line waiting to ride in a horse-drawn carriage. The two Belgian horses and the carriage later would carry Santa and Mrs. Claus on the parade route from the Olympia Farmers Market to Sylvester Park.
“I’ve lived here for 20 years, and this is the first time I’ve heard about it,” Scheibner said of the parade and festivities. “It’s gets you in the holiday spirit.”
In Sylvester Park, volunteers with First Christian Church gave away hot chocolate and hot cider. Volunteers with Camp Quixote, Olympia’s encampment for the houseless, gave out candy canes to children.
“We are fundraising for the camp,” said Don Hutchings, vice president of Camp Quixote and a resident there. “We’re basically trying to just make sure we’re not forgotten out in the public view.”
As parade time neared, entrants made last-minute preparations. Lakefair’s “Candyland”-themed parade float made its 14th parade appearance, said Lakefair executive director Bob Barnes. Members of the U.S. Navy Sea Cadets, teens dressed in naval uniforms, prepared to march near the head of the procession.
Cadet Alec Shackell, 12, a student at Tumwater Middle School, said he loves marching in parades. One reason? “I get to use a bayonet,” he said, grinning.
Zvirzdys-Farler said attendance was down roughly one-third from last year’s event, which she said drew more than 4,000 people. She attributed that partly to the poor weather but added that parade sponsorships were down about 75 percent this year, making it difficult to buy advertising.
As for those who did show up this year?
“These parade participants, they’re troopers,” she said. “I’m amazed at how many did show up.”
The parade ended in Sylvester Park, as the Capital High School marching band played raucous versions of traditional Christmas songs. Uniformed marching band members wore transparent rain slickers over their uniforms, and many donned Santa hats or other festive headgear as they wound through the park.
At 4:30 p.m., the festivities ended in Sylvester Park with tree-lighting ceremony.
Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5465
jpawloski@theolympian.com
