Christmas Parade 2024
This year’s Christmas Parade was held November 23th and again kicked off the Holiday Season for the community. The weather was a little chilly, but dry; there were over 130 entries and hundreds of spectators lined the streets. The theme for this year’s parade was “Songs of Christmas” and besides the bands providing musical entertainment, numerous entries also provided Christmas songs. Grand Marshal for this year’s parade was Shelly Kehrle-Sulser, former and long-time Executive Editor of the Battle Creek Shopper News. Unfortunately, due to illness, Shelly was unable to attend the event. This year’s parade chairperson was again Stephanie Cornish, who has followed in the footsteps of her late father, Jim Demarest. Jim chaired the program for a number of years prior to his passing. Special thanks goes out to Col. Frank Walker, for being this year’s judge of the entries. Stephanie would also like to thank all the club members who volunteered their assistance in making the parade another very successful and much appreciated community event.
Entry winners for the various categories in the order of their parade presentation are the following: The Thad Harding Memorial Award was won by Girl Scout Troop #80231 and awarded for parade participation longevity. The Grand Marshal Award was won by Jaqua Realtors for being the best overall entry. The Sweepstakes Award was won by Consumers Energy for their best commercial interpretation of the theme. The President’s Award was won by The Blu Door for providing the most unique interpretation of the theme. The Jim Demarest Award was won by Hamilton Landscape and presented for their high level of parade spirit. The Judges Award was won by Downtown Church for their best non-commercial interpretation of the theme. The Fantasy Award was won by Bud’s Towing and awarded for the best use of music and animation. The International Award was won by Republic Services of SW Michigan for their best use of holiday lighting.
The Harper Creek Optimist Club would also like to thank the following bands for their participation in this year’s parade: Harper Creek High School Marching Band, Pennfield High School Marching Band, and the Battle Creek Central High School Marching Band.
Below are pictures from this year’s Christmas Parade and to view all the pictures in the gallery, continue to click on + Show More at the bottom of the page.
Christmas Parade 2023
This year’s Christmas Parade was held November 18th and again kicked off the Holiday Season for the community. The weather was perfect, there were over 130 entries and the spectators lined the streets with probably the most ever in attendance. The theme for this year’s parade was “An Old Fashioned Christmas”. Grand Marshals for this year’s parade were long time Harper Creek Optimist Club members Dr. Gary Gymer and Johns Sims, Sr. They are two of the original members of the parade’s planning committee and have volunteered every year since the origin of the event over 40 years ago. This year’s parade chairperson was again Stephanie Cornish, who has followed in the footsteps of her late father, Jim Demarest. Jim chaired the program for a number of years prior to his passing. Special thanks goes out to Shelly Kehrle-Sulser, Battle Creek Shopper Executive Editor, for being this year’s judge of the entries. Stephanie would also like to thank all the club members who volunteered their assistance in making the parade a very successful and much appreciated community event.
Entry winners for the various categories in the order of their parade presentation are the following: The Grand Marshall Award was won by Battle Creek American Legion Post #298 and judged the best overall entry. The Jim Demarest Award was won by Northwestern Middle School Marching Band, which is judged on exhibiting the best parade spirit. The Thad Harding Memorial Award was won by Post Balloons (Magic Clouds) Balloon Corp., which is judged on recognition of their parade longevity. The Judges Award was won by Downtown Church – Strong Branches and was determined by presenting the best non-commercial interpretation of the theme. The President’s Award was won by Tigers Towing because they presented the most unique interpretation of the theme. The winner of the International Award was Republic Services of SW Michigan and that award was based on the best use of holiday lighting. The Sweepstakes Award was won by Once Upon a Child in regards to the best commercial interpretation of the theme. The Fantasy Award was won by Cains Concrete and was based on the best use of music and lighting.
The Harper Creek Optimist Club would also like to thank the following bands for their participation in this year’s parade: Harper Creek High School Marching Band, Northwestern Middle School Marching Band, Pennfield High School Marching Band, Lakeview High School Marching Band and the Battle Creek Central High School Marching Band.
Below are pictures from this year’s Christmas Parade.
Christmas Parade 2022
Our club was awarded with a very pleasant winter evening on December 10th, after we were forced to reschedule the event due to a severe winter storm on the originally scheduled date in November. Twenty-one entries were unable to make the rescheduled date, but there were a few new entries, which made for a total of 96. The event was well attended by the community. The theme for this year’s parade was “Lights on Battle Creek” and there were many spectacular presentations of lights decorating the floats. This year’s Grand Marshall was again designated posthumously (last year the designation was Jim Demarest, the long-time club organizer of the event who had recently passed) to Duncan Bailey who passed away earlier in the year. Duncan was a long-time very active member of the club and was instrumental in assisting with the parade. Duncan’s widow Darline and son Trevor were honored to ride on the Grand Marshal’s float. Club members Stephanie and Zach Cornish (Stephanie is the daughter of the late Jim Demarest) chaired the event again this year and did an outstanding job relative to all the hurdles they had to go through in regards to rescheduling the event. Numerous club members also stepped up and volunteered their time, which made for another successful club event.
Entry winners for the various categories are the following: The International Award was won by Cains Concrete, which is judged on the best use of holiday lighting. The Judges Award was won by Girls Scout Troop 80247, which is judged on the best non-commercial entry relative to the interpretation of the theme. The Sweepstakes Award was won by Battle Creek Unlimited and Handmap Brewing for their best commercial entry of the interpretation of the theme. The Grand Marshall Award was won by Captain Oscar Brady Post 298, which was judged the best overall entry. The President’s Award was won by Dairy Christmas for their most unique interpretation of the theme. The Fantasy Award was won by Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, which is judged on the best use of music and/or animation. The Thad Harding Memorial Award went to Wicked Jeeps in recognition of their parade longevity.
Pictured below are the parade winners plus a collection of other entries and youth participants’ emphasizing the Optimist motto “Friend of Youth”.
Photo Gallery
Christmas Parade 2021
The weather was very accommodating on Saturday, November 20th for our club’s presentation of the 41st addition of the annual Battle Creek Christmas Parade. Due to COVID issues the parade was not held last year, but our club was back in stride for this year’s event and although the parade entries were down slightly, the community came out in droves to witness the spectacular event. With the theme for this year: “Come celebrate our Christmas: A Tribute to Our Essential Workers”, many floats bore messages listing such occupations as nurses, doctors, truck drivers, police, firefighters and more. This year’s Grand Marshall was designated posthumously to long time club coordinator, Jim Demarest, who passed away last December. Stepping in to fill his shoes was his daughter, Stephanie Cornish, with help from her husband Zack. Numerous club members assisted for the event under the club leadership of Duncan Bailey, Dr. Gary Gymer and John Sims, Sr. Under the supervision of new club member Crystal Florence, for the first time in a number of years, our club created and entered a float in the parade.
Entry winners for the various categories are the following: The International Award was won by Republic services, which is judged on the best use of holiday lighting. The Judges Award was won by The Misfits Car Club, which is judged on the best non-commercial entry relative to the interpretation of the theme. The Sweepstakes Award was won by The Oaks at Northpointe Woods, for their best commercial entry of the interpretation of the theme. The Grand Marshall Award was won by Jaqua Realtors, which was judged on the best overall entry. The President’s Award was won by Girl Scout Troop 80247 for their most unique interpretation of the theme. The Fantasy Award was won by Caines Concrete, which is judged on the best use of music and/or animation. The Thad Harding Memorial Award went to Grandma and Grandpa Built a Float in recognition of their parade longevity.
Pictured below are the parade winners plus a collection of other entries, participants and Optimist club members who helped in making our parade another successful event.
Photo Gallery
Christmas Parade 2019
On Saturday, November 23 our club held its 40th annual Christmas Parade. The weather was great and the community supported the event with a great turnout. The Grand Marshall for this year’s parade was local historian and artist, Kurt Thornton. The theme of the parade this year: “A Postcard Christmas” was relative to Mr. Thornton’s book on the history of Battle Creek postcards. Due to renovation of the downtown Heritage Tower, the parade took slightly different route this year. There were 79 entries in this year’s parade, including 3 local High School marching bands. A special thanks goes out to Jim Demarest for again chairing the event and also to club members Dr. Gary Gymer, Duncan Bailey and John Sims Sr. who have worked every parade since the initial event 40 years ago.
