Whitehall Christmas parade ‘to lift everyone’s spirits up’

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Santa Claus and Christmas cheer are scheduled to come through Whitehall on Dec. 19 at 6 p.m.

A Christmas parade being hosted by the Christmas Cheer Committee has been given the green light by the Village Board after discussion during its most recent meeting on Nov. 17.

Barbara Spoor, a committee member, spoke to the board about the parade.

“Whitehall has been hit so hard recently with the storm on top of the businesses dealing with hardships as well,” Spoor said. “It’s more of just a little thing to kind of lift everyone’s spirits up.”

Spoor told the board that there has already been buzz surrounding the event from members within the community.

It really seems like something the people are passionate about, she said.

“We’re getting a lot of people that are coming and want to be a part of it,” Spoor said. “We are definitely willing to make it work anyway we can safely.”

COVID-19 has forced many to call an audible when it comes to their annual traditions that come with the holiday season.

Spoor and the entire Christmas Cheer Committee want to make sure they do what they can to take coronavirus out of the equation.

It’s going to be a drive-thru parade of sorts. Rather than having people standing on the sidewalk the plan is to have cars parked in designated parking areas along the route of the parade.

They also plan on promoting this event strictly to the community of Whitehall.

“We’re not going to promote it in a big way,” Spoor told the board, “so that we can keep it more of a local community event.”

She told the board that everyone involved in the parade will have to wear face masks and stay on their floats.

Usually at the Christmas party, Santa gives out gifts to the kids. This time around the committee is thinking of ways to do something similar in a safer way.

They want to set up a drive-thru Santa stop.

“You would have Santa on the sidewalk with us. The car would pull up and they would receive the bag and they can wave from inside the car,” Spoor said. “It’s kind of unfortunate, but it’s better than nothing.”

Village trustee Teresa Austin made the motion to approve the Christmas parade. The motion was seconded by village trustee Pat Norton. It was passed by a 5-0 vote.

“I think this is going to be very nice,” Austin said.

Christmas Cheer Committee member Riley Ballard was the one who contacted Mayor Phil Smith about the parade.

She was very excited to hear about the board giving the go-ahead.

“We’re all very happy and excited,” Ballard said. “The town definitely needed some joy this year.”

She said she was happy to see that the board sees things the same way the committee does.

The next step is getting everyone who wants to be involved signed up.

If you are interested you can call Riley Ballard at 518-955-7251, Sue Belden-Hurlburt at 518-307-3595, Joanne Eagan at 518-368-9353 or Dawn Usher at 518-720-2587.

The lineup for cars involved in the parade will take place on the day at 4:30 p.m. It will not be assigned beforehand. It will be in the order you arrive.

There will be a select group of people walking around judging the participants. At the end of the parade, they will announce the winners for first, second and third place.

Ballard said that there are currently 32 groups signed up to be involved.

“It’s looking like we are going to have a pretty good turnout,” she said.