HAMLET — Organizers say now is the time for anyone interested in participating in the Hamlet Christmas Parade to get their applications in — and slots are going fast.

Sponsored by the Hamlet Business Development Association, the annual holiday event has drawn thousands of onlookers for at least the last 50 years, according to Kim Lindsey — and quite possibly longer.

“We will have the 82nd Airborne Marching Band with us again this year, so they’ll be coming down from Fort Bragg,” she said. “And Ashton Locklear, our Olympian, is our grand marshal, and we are extremely excited she could work us into her schedule. She finishes up her Kellogg’s Gymnastics Tour the last week of November and we were worried that she wouldn’t be able to make it.”

Locklear, a Hamlet native who began her career in gymnastics by training with Terry Barrett at Physical Awareness and Gymnastics when she was only 2 years old, went to Rio de Janeiro as an alternate for Team U.S.A. in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

“She could have just, you know, you can take that next step and just forget where you came from, and so many people do,” Lindsey said. “And she’s taken that next step, but she knows this is home…And we’re so proud of her as a city, as a community. We all claim her.”

Lindsey said the 2016 parade will closely follow the format of last year’s, which she said was successful in numerous ways.

“We had 90 entries in the parade last year,” she said. “I’m expecting hopefully as many this year. One of the other things we’re going to do this year that we did last year is G104 is going to basically call the parade, just like you hear WBTV and the news do when a float comes up. They’ll say, ‘Here comes a float from…,’ and ‘The riders are…,’ and fill in whoever it is. They’re going to do that on the radio live, and then they’re going to play that throughout the season. And we’ll also have it videoed, so it will go on YouTube, and hopefully the voice and the video will match and you can sit and rewatch it.”

She said videotaping was an idea borrowed from a family member that turned out to be a hit.

“That was actually my mother’s idea,” Lindsey explained. “My mother is not able to come down and watch the parade, and she said, ‘You ought to video it.’ And I thought, ‘Well, how hard is that?’ Our former IT person with the city of Hamlet, Zach Garner, said, ‘If you video it, I can YouTube it.’ So then G104’s Sherrell Jackson stepped up and said, ‘If you video it and YouTube it, I can put voice to it.’ And the next thing you know we have a parade being called on the radio.”

She said the radio station planned to capture the raw video from a camera mounted on a truck bed.

“They do it at just enough of an angle so that you see it coming at you,” she said.

The experience, she added, will be similar to what people see when watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on television.

“Just no balloons,” she added. “But it will give you that same view. Last year it was a really good show. We had somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000 YouTube video hits on that parade. So, a wonderful opportunity for advertisement for those businesses who put entries in the parade. They’re getting their name called out, and people are seeing it over and over again and saying, ‘Hey, look what a great community partner Seaboard Station is, Cortek is. They put a float in the parade.’

“And they’ll see all those little girls waving are from Dance Sensations Dance Studio,” Lindsey continued. “So it really is very nice…And it works great for the individual homemade entries, too. It’s just another little way for the parade to give back to the community and to give those people the extra attention that they deserve.”

Many people who sponsor floats in the parade, she explained, are not the ones riding on them.

“So often, we look at the float people and forget to look at the float donator,” Lindsey said. “And it’s not uncommon that someone like Bobby’s Furniture and Grant’s Express sponsor a float, but they put the 2nd Baptist Christian Academy children on it. So you can’t say, ‘There’s the guys from Bobby’s. There’s the guys from Grant’s.’ What you see is 5-, 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds waving at you.”

Lindsey said there are two new sponsors on board this year, with possibly a third joining soon.

“The Von Drehle paper company is sponsoring a float this year in the parade and putting their employees on it, the Hamlet Senior Center has sponsored a float and they’re going to put their seniors on it,” she said. “Last year, their seniors walked, so a float is a fantastic idea for them and they get an opportunity to wave.”

“The Richmond Community College (Student Government Association) says they’re joining,” she added. “Obviously, Sandhills Regional Medical Center will sponsor Santa once again this year — they’re always our premier float. It’s the only float that can throw out candy.”

Lindsey explained the reason for that is safety.

“It is very important,” she said. “We have children running, and these guys are driving, pulling a float with a very heavy-duty pickup truck. And the distance between the back of the truck and the float is relatively great. Our concern is that a child would run and the driver would not see them because they’re small and they would get between the truck and the float. I can’t think of anything worse that could happen at the parade than someone to get hurt, whether they fall chasing candy or they just fall in general, we want to avoid any gotchas like that. I try not to ever jeopardize anything I can’t afford to replace, and I can’t replace someone’s child.”

She said it is also “very difficult to throw candy from the middle of a wide street,” and that excess candy might be left in the street.

In addition to the restriction on candy-throwing, Lindsey reminded everyone in attendance of the city ordinance prohibiting pets.

“You’re not allowed to bring any animals on the street for a function such as that,” she said. “And our issue is the close proximity. You’re standing right next to someone, you’ve got your dog with you — I’m not singling out dogs, I love dogs — but a child could decide to take a swat, not necessarily at the dog, but a dog might decide he doesn’t want to be swatted at, and next thing you know, you’ve got a bite. And you just took a beautiful, wonderful, fabulous afternoon and turned it into a tragic event. So we do ask that people leave their pets home.”

Planning for the Hamlet Christmas Parade is a year-round job, Lindsey said.

“We started back in the spring, touching base with our vendors and our float purchasers,” she explained. “Miss North Carolina had to be secured in advance. Ashton had to be secured the minute she got off the plane in Rio. We filled out paperwork in May (for the Airborne band) to try to get on their schedule.”

Volunteers play an important role in the parade’s organization as the day draws near.

“We need about 15 to 18 volunteers the day of the parade just to load the streets,” Lindsey said. “Anyone who is interested in helping out can call 910-582-0051.”

As for special guests who will make appearances in the parade, Lindsey said several children’t favorites could show up.

“We have it on good authority that Mickey and Minnie Mouse will be joining us again this year,” she said. “There’s no guarantees, because everything’s up in the air with those kinds of things until you get to the last minute. Someone has said that Pooh Bear is tagging along this year. We are hoping that we will have a Dunkin’ Donuts donut in the parade. Zaxby’s Chicken is going to appear. Captain D will be here. JoJo from Pizza Inn will be here. And we are hoping to have the Aaron’s dog with us again this year.”

She said it’s time for people to get their parade applications in before the Nov. 30 deadline, and that the parade fills up every year.

“Currently we have one float available, it’s $400,” Lindsey said. “The entry fee for the parade is $25 if you are going to be entering a car or a car or truck pulling a trailer. If you’re a walking entry it’s $50 for the whole group.”

The parade will begin at 3:30 p.m., rain or shine. Applications can be picked up at city hall or downloaded from www.hamletnc.us.

“They can be dropped off along with their fees at BB&T in Hamlet,” Lindsey said. “Bobby’s Furniture is also taking applications with money. We are a nonprofit, and all of the money we raise for the parade, which is not a lot, goes back into the community. Last year’s project was to pay for some of the new decorations that are going up on Hamlet Avenue. The parade helped pay for half those decorations.”

Reach reporter Melonie McLaurin at 910-817-2673 and follow her on Twitter @meloniemclaurin.

Daily Journal File Photo Santa and a few elves wow the crowd at last year’s Hamlet Christmas Parade.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_DSC_1238-1.jpgDaily Journal File Photo Santa and a few elves wow the crowd at last year’s Hamlet Christmas Parade.
Ashton Locklear to be grand marshal

By Melonie McLaurin

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