By Lillian Karr
Santa Claus made his way to DeQuincy via the DeQuincy Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade last Saturday.
The parade was filled with Christmas Queens, Railroad Festival Queens, State Senators, State Representatives, Mayor Riley Smith, DeQuincy City Council Members, the Parade Marshals, Pastor and Mrs. Carlton Jackson, many veterans from all wars, Sondra Stark Dancers and many many floats, vehicles and bicycles. It was a great parade.
The parade ended at the Railroad Museum grounds where visitors were met with around 80 booths at the Farmers Market. The children were greeted with an early snow and all enjoyed the snow ball fights. This was followed by a Christmas Musical program including the DeQuincy High School Band, DeQuincy Elementary School Choir, Sondra Starks Dancers and many musical groups providing great music. The program ended with a rendation of Elvis who thrilled the crowd by singing “Blue Christmas”.
The evening came to a close with a great fireworks display provided by the DeQuincy Chamber of Commerce with the assistance of Mayor Riley Smith and the City of DeQuincy.
Parade Winners
The Christmas Parade winners are as follows:
Float: 1st place, Teachers Lounge; 2nd place, Evergreen Baptist Church; 3rd place, B1 Bank
Vehicles: 1st place, Teen Miss Merry Christmas Julee Ann Klingonsmith; 2nd place, World Finance; 3rd place, Toddler Miss Railroad Festival Queen Kambry Maddox
Bicycles: 1st place, Sarah Royer; 2nd place, DeQuincy City Council; 3rd place, River and Lani Cooley
