By Jim Bloch
Representatives of the three top floats in the Lighted Santa Parade in St. Clair received plaques for their efforts at the regular meeting of the city council Dec. 1.
“This is the largest Santa Parade we’ve had,” said Sue Daniels, who chairs the annual parade committee, as heard on the CTV-Channel 6 recording of the meeting. “We had 60 units participate in this year’s parade.”
The 16th annual parade and tree lighting ceremony, which kicks off the holiday season in the Blue Water Area, attracted thousands of viewers, who lined both sides of North Riverside Avenue in front of Riverview Plaza.
“First place for the nonprofit category – Jeepers Anonymous of Michigan,” said Daniels. “First place in the commercial division – St. Clair Landscaping and Irrigation. And our grand sweepstakes winner – the St. Clair Knights of Columbus, their first year in the parade … and they did a wonderful job.”
Each winner received a plaque for their efforts. The name of the grand sweepstakes winner will be engraved on a larger plaque that hangs in city hall.
The parade and tree lighting included the cast of Annie singing “It’s a Hard Knock Life” from the county’s portable stage, set up in Palmer Park to introduce Santa. The musical will be performed at the Boardwalk Theatre Dec. 6-Jan. 4. Two reindeer and Santa himself greeted guests in the courtyard of the plaza.
“It takes a village to do something like this, and it’s gotten bigger every year,” said Sue Daniels, “Without the dedication of people, departments and the city itself, we couldn’t do it.”
Daniels thanked DPW director Bob Bieth and his staff for decorating the city; Chief Tim Raker and the police department for traffic control; the St. Clair Area Fire Department, which led the procession; the city hall office staff, especially Brenda Hill who handled the paperwork and entry forms; the staff at Pine Shores Golf Course; recreation director Trice Hawkins, who took care of parade finances and publicity; city clerk Annette Sturdy who captained the lineup of the parade units; and Mayor Bill Cedar who headed up the judging.
Citizen volunteers are critical to the endeavor, Daniels said, recognizing Jan Cornish, Rob Sturdy, Kat and Jim Schweihofer, and the police public safety volunteer group that handled crowd control.
“We couldn’t have done it without them, Chief,” Daniels said. “They’re a wonderful bunch.”
The Marching Saints of St. Clair High School are a mainstay of the parade, escorting Santa atop his sleigh into town. Next year, they’ll be parading in Orlando.
“We will miss you next year, but we hope you’ll enjoy your visit to Walt Disney World,” said Daniels.
“I do want to reiterate what a great job Sue Daniels, our parade chair, did this year,” said Mayor Cedar. “Sixty floats – almost unbelievable.”
Jim Bloch is a freelance writer based in St. Clair, Michigan. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.
