Christmas Street Parade 2014
By Sharon Doggett
We had a perfect day for the Christmas Parade! The air was crisp and clear. All helpers were excited and a whole boatload (pun intended) of toys were ready to be loaded and donated to the Naples Women’s Abuse Center. I would like to thank ALL of the people that helped to decorate the Hortons’ boat: Bill Horton, Marianne Mulligan, John and Carolyn Cachiannes, John and Dianne Kernan, Dan and Lucy Dotterweich, Charlie and Paula Skillern, Chris and Nancy Eames, Al and Marcia Orsolini, Bob Boland, Barry Gelfand, Bob and Sharon Burns for once again using their vehicle to pick up, pull, and deliver the boat back, and of course Rick at Performance Marine for the loan of the trailer. We worked at the design and incorporated the sleigh that Bob Boland and Barry Gelfand had built for the Boat Parade. It was to get one more use only after Joe Doggett reinforced it so we could tie it to the bow of the float. Thanks Joe for the use of all those tools. More ropes and tiedowns were needed for the Snowman that was to drive the sleigh and boat! All of this work called for some needed coffee and snacks! We finished up in about 3 hours.
The final result ended with a simple supper while waiting for the parade to start, then on to the fun. And fun we had! The guys wore elf hats and passed out candy to the kids on the parade route, (there were so many kids that Sharon Burns got out of the tow vehicle to help pass out the candy) while the women on the float wore elf adornments and waved, shouted “Merry Christmas”, and took care of the speaker system playing Christmas music. (thanks Barry for getting that set up for us) When we got to the judges station, it took about 15 people to get the toys and three bicycles that our members donated to the Abuse Center off of the boat and delivered to the sleigh on the ground. It was almost overwhelming when the judges started applauding our efforts. Thanks to ALL who participated and donated. You make me proud to be a member of such a wonderful, generous group of people!
Sunday afternoon many of the people that had worked decorating the boat came to get everything put back into our storage building, and on Monday the boat was back at the Hortons dock and the trailer was back to Performance Marine. Altogether it is a four day process, but well worth the effort to be part of this community and give back for all of our blessings.
Click on the link below to see video of MBYC float….
Link: Street Parade Float
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year
