Cheery Lincoln Christmas Parade brings music to the heart of the city

 

[December 07, 2019] 

Thursday evening saw some of the best weather in years for the annual Christmas Parade in Lincoln. The calm winds and above freezing temperatures were reflected in the large crowds that lined the streets around the Logan County Courthouse Square.

Everyone was in a jovial mood and while waiting for the parade to begin, dozens were seen walking around admiring the trees of the Winter Wonderland on the courthouse lawn. Many others were seen cupping warm drinks in their hands from Guest House as they waited.

Kids were out in full force, most of them donned with large bags, prepared to receive all the candy and goodies that they knew would be a part of the parade procession.

This is a county election year, so there were several local candidates in the parade along with State Representative Tim Butler who is running for re-election this year as well.

Our Miss Logan County Fair Queen Skye Kretzinger was there dressed appropriately in a lovely red gown riding in a red convertible and threatening to steal the show from our local Santa when it came to spreading Christmas cheer. Later in the evening, she would make a stop at the Logan County Tourism Bureau Depot and would take her turn as whispering wishes in Santa’s ear.

This year’s Grand Marshal was Mary Kelley. Kelly is the Logan County Circuit Clerk and has announced that she is not going to be running for re-election. In addition to working for the county since her teenage years, Kelly has been a great community supporter.

Sounds of Christmas was the theme for this year’s parade. Entries were encouraged to base their floats on their favorite Christmas music. As floats, vehicles and walkers paraded around the square it was clear that all took the suggestion to heart as music filled the air and floats reflected scenes from those favorite songs.

This year, there were several wonderful entries and the judges were hard put to pick one winner. In one category they just couldn’t do it and declared a tie for the Best Theme Representation between Castle Manor and Lincoln College.

Other winners included Girl Scout Troop 6453, winning the Tourism Choice category. The best float was that of Heritage (Welch) Packaging, and Zion Lutheran Church won the award for the Best Choir.

Of course a parade wouldn’t be a parade without plenty of fire trucks. This year there were numerous trucks in the parade, most of them carrying special people such as members of the Lincoln City Council and groups of local children involved in scouting around the area.

Another fun entry was that of the Heritage in Flight Museum located at the Logan County Airport. This year in addition to the magnificent spot light, the group put together a flight float that featured a youngster riding in the children’s flight simulator that is such a popular attraction at the museum.

And, as is always the case, Santa himself arrived to bring up the end of the parade. Riding with Mrs. Claus and some other young guests, he waved, laughed, and called out greetings to children as he passed by, enticing all the good little girls and boys to follow him to the Tourism Depot for a sit-down chat about their Christmas wishes.


With the Depot filled wall-to-wall with families, the bureau provided hot cocoa and cookies for everyone as they waited their turn to see Santa. Many also took advantage of time to check out the gingerbread house displays and vote for their favorite.

This year was perhaps one of the largest runouts ever for visits with Santa, and the jolly man in red appeared to be enjoying every minute of it. There were lots of hugs for Santa, lots of laughs and all-in-all the atmosphere was about as jolly as it could get.

In addition to visits with Santa, Mrs. Claus was busy handing out newly knitted winter hats to the children. These hats have become a Mrs. Claus tradition, implemented first by her mother a few years back.

This was truly a great year for the Lincoln Christmas Parade and it appeared that everyone went home happy and glad that they had come to town to be a part of the annual tradition.

[Nila Smith]