• State News
  • National News
  • My Account
  • Contact Us
Subscribe For $2.50/month
Print Editions
Vinton Messenger
  • eEdition
  • News
    • Local News
    • Sports
    • Notices
    • Church
  • Legals
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Login
  • FAQ
No Result
View All Result
Vinton Messenger
No Result
View All Result
Vinton Messenger
No Result
View All Result

Vinton hosts another great Christmas Parade

Mountain Media by Mountain Media
March 4, 2020
in Local News
0
45
SHARES
248
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

By Debbie Adams

The Gospel Light Baptist entry was named Best Children’s Float in the Vinton Christmas Parade.

Vinton held its annual Christmas Parade on December 5– a tradition that began back in 1975.

What a parade it was in 2019 with about 75 units including floats and bands that brought out the crowds in seasonal, but not bitterly cold, weather.

The parade is sponsored by the Vinton Area Chamber of Commerce with assistance from the Town of Vinton.

Festivities got underway before the actual parade with a tree-lighting ceremony at the Municipal Building headed up by Vinton Mayor Brad Grose. The Floyd Ward School of Dance entertained on the stage, followed by students from the William Byrd Middle and High School Choirs, under the direction of Matt Bartley. The choirs invited the crowd to sing along to the familiar carols.

The Roanoke Valley SPCA float won third place in the Vinton parade’s Non-Religious category.

The parade then kicked-off from the Vinton War Memorial, proceded down Washington Avenue, meandered through downtown Vinton to Pollard Street with the judges’ reviewing stand, and then up Gus Nicks Boulevard.

Judges for the parade again this year were Bootie Chewning and Dr. Richard Turner and his wife Tina. Chewning, who has been battling health issues for a couple of years, put forth a valiant effort to attend the yearly event and even appeared as Mrs. Santa at the After-Parade Party at the Vinton Farmers’ Market.

The parade was led by the Vinton Police, a police honor guard, the Roanoke County Sheriff’s Department, and the Marching Terriers Band. As is tradition, Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus rode atop a firetruck as the parade grand finale.

Mineral Springs Christian entered two floats in the parade that won first place in the Religious category.

In between were some beautiful floats, which indicated a great deal of thought, time, and effort by those participating.  Quite a few of the area’s churches built floats for the parade this year representing the true meaning of the season.

There were cheerleaders and sports teams, including the 2019 State Championship Softball Team from William Byrd High School. Megan Grant, the 2019 Dogwood Festival Queen, who was also a member of the championship softball team, returned home from college to ride in the parade.

Several animal organizations participated in the parade, some with floats, others with adoptable pets parading. There were dancers and twirlers.

MSC Glade Creek/Hickory Woods took first place in the Non-Religious category in the Vinton parade with their beautiful trees.

The Town of Vinton paraded a new dumptruck festooned with lights. There were inflatables, especially snowmen, and lots of bubbles this year.

The Kazim Shriners had their usual contingent of clowns and vehicles causing mayhem, along with some Mystic Pirates aboard ship.

At the end of the parade, the Santa family welcomed guests for photographs and gift requests around a fire at the After-Parade Party with music by DJ Flex from K-92 and entertainment by the Floyd Ward dancers.

Mr. and Mrs. Santa greeted families at the Vinton Farmers’ Market After-Parade Party.

Parade winners were announced:

  • The Mayor’s Award (Best in Parade given by the Town of Vinton) went to the Kazim Pirates.
  • In the Religious category: First place went to Mineral Springs Christian with two floats entered; second place to the Blue Ridge Christian Riders; and third place to Shenandoah Baptist/Colonial Baptist
  • In the Non-Religious category: First place went to MSC Glade Creek/Hickory Woods; second place to the always dazzling Virginia Veterans Care Center; and third place to the Roanoke Valley SPCA
  • The Best Children’s Float winner was Gospel Light Baptist
  • The Best Children’s Float-Other was the Floyd Ward School of Dance
    The Best Children’s Float and Best Children’s-Other are sponsored by Eric Thomas of Mountain View Real Estate each year.

The Vinton Breakfast Lions Club held the traditional spaghetti dinner fundraiser at the VFW before the parade got underway.

Many more photographs of the Vinton Christmas Parade can be found on The Vinton Messenger Facebook page.

Sign up to our newsletter

Enter your email address to receive weekly notifications.

Please confirm your subscription!
Some fields are missing or incorrect!
Lists
Previous Post

Vinton Professional Hairstyling wins contest with nostalgic door theme

Next Post

Flood Ready Open House advises know your risk, get insured, reduce your risk

Next Post

Flood Ready Open House advises know your risk, get insured, reduce your risk

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • Articles
  • AWPCP
  • Cart
  • Checkout
  • Communication preferences
  • Contact Us
  • Digital Subscriptions
  • FAQ
  • How To Clear Your Browsers Cache
  • Issues
  • Log In
  • Log Out
  • LoginPress
  • Lost Password
  • Membership Account
  • My Account
  • News
  • News
  • News For Vinton & Surrounding Areas
  • News For Vinton & Surrounding Areas (BACK)
  • Newsletter
  • Newsletter Reconfirm
  • Profile
  • Register
  • Register
  • Reset Password
  • Shop
  • Store
  • Submit Content
  • Subscribe
  • Thank You
  • Your Profile

  • Login
Forgot Password?
Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.
body::-webkit-scrollbar { width: 7px; } body::-webkit-scrollbar-track { border-radius: 10px; background: #f0f0f0; } body::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb { border-radius: 50px; background: #dfdbdb }
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • Articles
  • AWPCP
    • Browse Ads
    • Browse Categories
    • Cancel Payment
    • Edit Ad
    • Payment Thank You
    • Place Ad
    • Renew Ad
    • Reply To Ad
    • Search Ads
    • Show Ad
  • Cart
  • Checkout
  • Communication preferences
  • Contact Us
  • Digital Subscriptions
  • FAQ
  • How To Clear Your Browsers Cache
  • Issues
  • Log In
  • Log Out
  • LoginPress
  • Lost Password
  • Membership Account
    • Membership Billing
    • Membership Cancel
    • Membership Checkout
    • Membership Confirmation
    • Membership Invoice
    • Membership Levels
  • My Account
  • News
  • News
  • News For Vinton & Surrounding Areas
  • News For Vinton & Surrounding Areas (BACK)
  • Newsletter
  • Newsletter Reconfirm
  • Profile
  • Register
  • Register
  • Reset Password
  • Shop
  • Store
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • Clear
    • IPN
    • Receipt
  • Submit Content
  • Subscribe
    • Subscriptions Mailed in Roanoke County
    • Subscriptions Mailed Outside Roanoke County
    • Subscriptions Mailed Outside Virginia
  • Thank You
  • Your Profile