Gravette celebrates season

A parade is not a parade without a band and these drummer boys in the Gravette High School band are doing their part.

A parade is not a parade without a band and these drummer boys in the Gravette High School band are doing their part.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

— Scores of people, many of them families with children, lined Main Street and the parade route Saturday night for Gravette’s annual Christmas parade.

Colorful lights on almost a dozen fl oats complemented the recently-installed lights on Main Street and in Kindley Memorial Park where the parade ended. It was there children lined up for pictures with Santa and for the little ones to tell the jolly old fellow what they wanted for Christmas.

Hot cocoa and cookies were served to many in the park, and members of the Community Choir serenaded the crowd with holiday music.

Later, many enjoyed free bowls of chili and hot chocolate at the Civic Center, where they visited, relaxed and enjoyed holiday songs by a musicalpair from Lowell, “The Old Tyme Music Program.”

Headed by bright and loud fire department, ambulance and law enforcement vehicles from Gravette and joined by those from Sulphur Springs, the crowd also enjoyed the many parade entries, which included holiday music played by the Gravette High School band while small fry scrambled for candy treats tossed from the passing parade participants.

Winners of trophies in the parade were the Santa float created by the city public works department, a richly-decorated entry by the Gravette Kiwanis Club, and the Christmas music float by the community choir.

Gravette’s Christmas lights can be enjoyed in Old Town Park as well as in Kindley and Centennial Parks and on Main Street as the city continues its traditional “Light Up Christmas” theme.

Opinion, Pages 7 on 12/04/2013