By Mary O’KEEFE

Once again, the Montrose Christmas Parade brought that old town feel to the community. Scouts, kids’ dance groups and school bands marched down Honolulu Avenue to the cheers of parade viewers. 

As everyone was enjoying the parade, hundreds of volunteers were making sure everything ran smoothly. 

“It takes over 200 volunteers to put on the parade, including the gap team, VIP vehicle coordination, VIP reception team, ham radio operators, rovers, banner carriers, staging & lineup team, participant & vehicle check-in, and the various marshals and volunteers all over the route and on the back side of the parade,” said Cheryl Davis, parade coordinator. 

The Montrose Christmas Parade Association is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization that exists solely to put on this annual event for the community, she added. 

“The parade marshals and board members have been doing this longer than I have so they are a well-oiled machine. We’re able to start planning in September and put on the parade with only two marshals’ meeting and one volunteer meeting,” Davis said. 

Parade watchers saw a total of 115 entries comprised of 73 vehicles, 20 horses and dogs and 3,651 youth, student and adults marching along Honolulu Avenue on Dec. 7. 

The parade, which is always held the evening of the first Saturday in December, begins with the traditional helicopter fly over by Santa, who welcomes everyone to the parade – thanks to the support of the Glendale Police Dept. 

Glendale police were boots on the ground at the parade to make sure everyone was safe while attending. The parade association could not put the parade on without its sponsors (a full list is available at https://montrosechristmasparade.com).

“Thank you to the participants – incredible student, Scout and adult volunteers – and our generous sponsors who make this parade possible every year. People in the community say, ‘You’re either in the parade or watching the parade,’ but I’d like to mention the third dimension, which is ‘Or you’re volunteering to help with the parade,’” Davis said.

Davis added a thank you to Glendale TV that taped and edited the parade for a video that will soon be available on-demand from the MyGlendale YouTube channel, (https://www.youtube.com/myglendale) and will replay on Glendale TV throughout December. The schedule of viewing can be found at https://www.glendaleca.gov/glendaletv.

“We’re always looking for volunteers, so please feel free to contact us at info@montrosechristmasparade.com if you’re interested in volunteering, participating or sponsoring the parade,” Davis added. “Our parade marshals and board members follow Santa at the end of the parade and we’re reminded of what the parade is about when the crowd claps and yells, ‘Thank you’ as we pass by.” 

Photos by Leonard COUTIN, Sean DOORLY and Alice PEREZ