I Do Love a Parade
Macy’s parade is famous for its 40-foot balloons in the shape of Snoopy the Beagle the Pillsbury Doughboy, and even something called Pikachu. I don’t know what a Pikachu is and if you are over 45, I am ashamed of you if you do. I didn’t see all the parade this year but I believe that the red and yellow Mighty Mouse may have been retired. I don’t know if he is forgotten in cartoon history or if the culture decided that saving the world was too big a task for even a super mouse. I miss seeing him. It was my most acceptable way of shouting, “Here I come to save the day!”
I grew up spending a couple of Thanksgiving mornings at the corner of Trade and Tryon Streets watching the Charlotte Carousel Parade with its local celebrities and local princesses riding on carpet covered platforms decorated with artificial snow and glitter. We know why the snow was artificial. We verrrrry rarely have snow on Christmas and if we did, imagine the danger of driving through the quarter inch drifts all the way from Fort Mill to Charlotte.
In the fifties and sixties we thrilled to see Arthur Smith and at least one or two of his band the Crakerjacks waving as they sang and played their way down the street. Depending on the era, radio announcers like Grady Cole or Murphy in the Morning, or teams like Bob and Sheri or John Boy and Billy would grin at us from the WAYS Float or the WBT float. The broadcast floats were also sure to have the local weather predictors like Cloudy McClain or Jerry Peterson, also known as Ol’ Jer.
There were, in the earlier days, two parade favorites (not counting Santa). One was Charlotte’s own singing cowboy Fred Kirby who would make his appearance on his faithful steed Calico. Both horse and rider were decked out in black with lots of silver-trimmed leather. The other major celebrity was Brooks Lindsay as his alter-ego, Joey the Clown. Joey entertained the onlookers in his ragged top hat and tails and nine-o’clock shadow. For the very fortunate along the parade route, Joey would tear a rolled-up newspaper and then stretch it out into a “Joey Tree”.
I am sure there were plenty of pretty Charlotte girls to ride on the floats in the Carousel Parade but parade planners knew the how to draw crowds from all around the area and would feature Carousel Princesses from the surrounding towns.
Of course, there were the bands…but let’s save those for the local parade.
The Fort Mill Christmas Parade could not compare in size or celebrity with Charlotte but we had plenty to be proud of. On the morning of the Fort Mill parade, Main Street would fill up early with all the regulars claiming their spots and putting out chairs. If some newcomer came earlier and had the nerve to set up in their spot, they were shunned like a squatters in a Methodist pew on Christmas Eve.
The parade, from the sixties on, began on Tom Hall Street at the intersection of Banks and Steele Streets. Floats would arrive early so the owners could add freshly painted signs from local businesses. The same floats would make an appearance at every local parade and swap out the store names and the local beauties.
About an hour before parade time, bands began forming lines and warming up their instruments. The town bands, before the proliferation of Fort Mill Schools, were Fort Mill High, Fort Mill Middle, and George Fish School. From the area, Indian Land High would join in. In the earliest days, bands from nearby towns like York, Rock Hill, and Clover would also add to the sounds. The Emmett Scott Band, from Rock Hill and our own George Fish band were always favorites in that they broke from the traditional military-type marching band and gave us something with some modern style…music to get our blood circulating on a cold December morning.
Balloon sellers, and toy vendors would wander up and down the hill on Main Street and there were always tears when a neglected balloon would weave its way above the buildings on its way to places unknown. By parade time, folks were lined up from the Presbyterian Church on Tom Hall Street all the way to the Fort Mill Plant where Walter Elisha Park is today. Always first in the parade was the Honor Guard from the Fort Mill National Guard Company carrying the American Flag and the deep blue South Carolina flag flanked by two riflemen. Placement varied, usually the mayor rode in the first car and local dignitaries were interspersed between floats. The closer to election time, the more dignitaries.
Every firetruck within ten miles and most of the firefighters joined in the fun and the air was full of siren blasts and sounding horns. Every year I wonder what would happen if a fire broke out somewhere in town during the parade.
There were always high school girls from our little town shivering in their best prom dresses and holding on for dear life as the float they were riding lurched forward or stopped suddenly. I am told by those who actually made the journey that bumping across the railroad tracks at the bottom of Main Street separated the veteran riders from the Jenny-come-latelys. Every convertible in town was drafted into service to transport Miss This or That wearing the mandatory tiara and waving her white gloved hands to admirers along the parade route. On one float a young beauty shined as bright as Venus rising in the early evening sky. Years later, I married that one. (I was threatened with bodily harm if I left that line in so my next podcast may be from an undisclosed location.)
Early December days in our part of the world can be a sunny seventy degrees or a bone-chilling thirty-three and in the coldest weather even the bravest beauty queen donned an overcoat and mittens. We shivered for them but our frozen hearts melted for the tiny dance teams and would-be majorettes whose smiles disappeared as they tapped or twirled their way through the cold.
Until the world grew over-protective, church groups and Cub Scouts and FFA students would hurl penny candy into the crowd and the mad scramble often put kids in peril as the Shriner go-cart teams roared their way through their intricate formations.
Fort Mill, small as it was, had its share of clowns. Local folks like Polly Collins and Mildred Harkey couldn’t wait to don their greasepaint and red noses and shake hands with kids along the route and Everett (Booger) Griffin, my favorite clown, would hold the leash tight so his invisible dog would stay out of trouble.
Not being parade royalty, I only appeared in one parade. When I was about ten, I was the one sticking his head out of the gun port on the top of the National Guard Personnel Carrier. I am sure you remember.
There were so many church groups and Scout troops and business entries that I cannot begin to mention them all. At the parade’s end, in the float with eight or nine reindeer cruising into the sky, sat our local Santa. Most memorable to me were Frank Epps as Santa and Marian Stallings as Mrs. Claus.
Those who have braved the cold or basked in the sun of the Fort Mill Parades certainly have your favorite entries. I can only give you mine. When the world and Fort Mill were smaller, the Christmas Parade was the biggest event in town. It brought us together as we shouted out to our friends as they passed by and wiped the questionable cotton candy from the corners of our mouths.
As I write this, the 2023 Fort Mill Christmas Parade is behind us and our Advent Calendars remind us the big day is coming. As someone raised in the Christian faith, in the midst of all the pomp and ceremony, I try to remember the humble birth so long ago, and the hope it symbolized. But whatever faith you hold…whatever days you celebrate, may your prayers for peace, both in the world or in your personal life, be answered and may you find a hand to hold and a safe place to rest.