Christmas Parade 2022

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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”. 

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.