To begin with let me say that it was WONDERFUL! Imagine tall palm trees lining main street, each tree wrapped with a spiral of bright Christmas lights from the bottom to the very top of the tree on the street. Imagine a parade where kids lined the streets, sitting in chairs on on the curb in shirtsleeves, sneakers and light jackets. We have been to many Christmas parades where you could hardly see the faces of children behind the snow suit, hood, scarf, etc.. It was so much fun to watch all the kids and see the sparkle in their eyes as each float, clown, band or dancer passed by. We had three little girls seated right next to us on the edge of the curb and they had a ball! But let me tell you about some of the floats.
Many of the businesses in the three towns had floats or vehicles in the parade. Many were quite involved and carried great detail. There was a float on top of which sat a full size, actual airplane completely outlined in bright lights. The wings had been removed and replaced with ornate, large, white, angel-like wings which actually moved up and down as artificial snow blow over it.
Actually, many of the floats had snow machines blowing artificial snow into the air. At one point the snow blew onto the street just out of reach of the three little girls I mentioned earlier. They jumped forward, reaching out to touch the “snow”. It was at that moment that I thought to myself, “I bet they have never seen the real thing.” Then I thought that was probably true of many of the people standing near us, not just the children. It’s kind of amazing. We have talked to adults down here who told us THEY had never seen snow in their entire lives. But, then, I digress from the parade.
We saw five different dance studios represented with 60 to 100 dancers in Santa-like outfits doing unison dance routines down the street to recorded music travelling with them. There were several bands, some with battery powered lights draped on some of the instruments. We saw floats so large that they were built on the flatbeds of tractor trailers or low boys used to carry bulldozers.
Actually, I saw one of those too, a real one, all outlined in bright lights. There was a huge steam train with wheels which actually moved on one of the floats. It’s engine and cars were filled with children and adults all waving to the crowd. Many of the floats were presented by local churches, many of which were accompanied by walkers handing out candy and flyers about their church's special Christmas programs.
One float which struck me was simply the back of a flatbed truck with a single light, resembling a street light handing on a pole high above the truck. Under the streetlight was the pastor of that church wearing white shirt and tie, holding his Bible and telling the crowd as he passed of their need to know the Savior personally to really understand and celebrate Christmas. It was in stark contrast to the floats, colors and lights yet, at least where we stood, people were respectfully quiet and listened to his message as he passed by. I was struck by his dedication and focus. Here was a man of God who seized the opportunity to speak to hundreds of people about the true meaning and message of Christmas. I will not make a judgment as to the impact or effectiveness of his churches approach over those of other churches but I admired his willingness to take it to the streets, literally. It made me wonder how many of us, myself included, would have thought of that idea or had the “guts” to put ourselves in the public eye like that. God bless his willingness to reach out to the lost.
Well, I mentioned dancers but there were many, many clowns as you might expect from the Shriners and other social organizations. But there is something special in this area. There is a clown school in Lake Placid which has taught the art of “clowning” to hundreds and hundreds of people, both local and visitors. The result of this local “clown college” is the presence of many people of all ages who entertain as clowns in all sorts of situations in the area.
There were many other floats of all sizes and shapes with literal smoke rising from chimneys and snow (artificial of course) blowing over rooftops (and wingtips). There were cars and festival queens, motorcycles and cheerleaders. There were bands, bikes and balloons but, once again, the thing we most noticed and enjoyed was the lights of the night. And when you think of it, isn’t that a great thing about Christmas. Not only the wonderful lights decorating so many businesses and front yards, living rooms and trees.
But think about this, Christmas is when the light of heaven came down to shine on this sinful old earth. The lights of Christmas and the lights of this Christmas parade as well remind us of the light of Jesus Christ. He didn’t say, “I came with the light.” He said, “I am the light of the world.” I hope that the light of Jesus Christ shines brightly in your hearts this Christmas season. It can be a pretty dark world, and a pretty dark life without him. May the light of Jesus shine in you and out into the world through you not only during the Christmas season but all year.
We’ll write again soon with more news from out here “on the road” but, in the meantime, enjoy this season of Advent as we prepare our hearts for the celebration which reminds us of the birth of our Savior. May this Christmas be even more special for you because He is the center of your celebration. Remember, Christmas was Jesus' birthday but we were the ones who got the gift. Enjoy the season and Merry Christmas to each of you. We’ll see you again soon, “on the road”.
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