Parades Truly Excellent Community Traditions

At the risk of being a tad corny and overly warm and fuzzy, traits we don’t usually aspire to, we enjoy the unique charm at the area’s Christmas parades.

Within the last week, local municipalities, such as Ocean City, Berlin, Salisbury, Pocomoke, Snow Hill and Selbyville, among others, have hosted their annual parades.

All unique in their own details and routes they run, each of the parades are similar in that there is a long tradition, community pride and general reverence associated with them all.

No matter their size or locale, holiday parades are generally geared toward the youngsters in the community, but at these annual events folks of all ages get into the holiday spirit, and that’s a lot of fun to observe.

For instance, last Thursday at the Berlin Christmas Parade, as is typical in most parades around here, a number of school entries were featured. Following behind most of the school floats and school-organized celebrations are the parents, who provide a watchful eye and help in other ways along the parade route.

Behind one of the school floats was a man, presumably a father, decked out in camouflage from head to toe with the exception of a Santa hat and a painted face to resemble the jolly one. It was a study in contrasts, but summed up the general feeling surrounding Berlin’s four-decade-old parade well.

Over in Ocean City, when Santa Claus brought up the rear of the parade last Saturday, he was sure to announce via a handmade sign the pending nuptials of a couple who apparently just became engaged during the parade.

These sorts of observations are unique to our Eastern Shore parades, and we are thankful they take place here and we admire the traditions they have each created.