By Mary O’KEEFE

The 39th Annual Montrose Christmas Parade is over and once again highlighted the hometown feel that is the center of the foothills community.

About 4,000 participants, including school bands, Boy and Girl Scout troops, elected officials and local community organizations, and everything in between, joined the parade in the march down Honolulu Avenue.

Each year the parade includes not only participation by local people and organizations on Honolulu but behind the scenes as well. It takes a lot of planning with many volunteers to make everything run smoothly down the avenue.

“The local saying is that you’re either in the parade or watching the parade, but there is a third dimension – working the parade,” said Cheryl Davis, parade coordinator, Montrose Christmas Parade Association. “There are a lot of great memories and stories behind the scenes. This year’s parade featured 121 entries, including 87 animals (horses and dogs) and an estimated 3,977 people with 775 of those being Scouts. The Montrose Christmas Parade Association would like to thank the hundreds of volunteers who helped make this year’s 39th annual Montrose-Glendale Christmas Parade a success. This was my fourth year coordinating the parade and thanks to our board and volunteers, it’s more fun every year we do it.”

Lucas Martos Repath, a junior at Crescenta Valley High School, was one of the many teen volunteers from CV, Clark Magnet, Hoover and La Cañada high schools and Rosemont Middle School.

“Lots of folks came and had a great time seeing all the Scouts and different activities that go on around the community,” said Martos Repath, who is also vice president of the Prom Plus Club.

“We’d also like to thank GTV6, who taped the parade, which will be broadcast after Dec. 11 on GTV6 (Charter Cable Channel 6) or U-verse channel 99 (Glendale Community Access),” Davis said.

Additional information regarding the broadcast will be available on the Parade Association’s website at www.MontroseChristmasParade.com.

“The Montrose Christmas Parade Association is a non-profit group of volunteers which exists solely to continue this wonderful family tradition. We’d like to thank our sponsors, donors, and parade participants for their contributions to make this parade possible,” Davis added.

Those interested in volunteering for next year’s parade can contact info@montrosechristmasparade.com.

  Leonard Coutin, Mary Okeefe