Opinion: Village parade delivers spirit

So, the assignment at hand on Sunday was to cover the annual Wintersville Christmas Parade. As I drove to the village, I was thinking the task would be pretty simple - snap a few photos, take a few notes and go file the story. That was before I realized, however, just how big the annual event actually was.

By 2:15 p.m., my arrival time, the parking lot of Riesbeck's, the parade staging area, was jumping with excitement. It was full of various groups getting ready for the event. The marching bands of Indian Creek and Steubenville Catholic Central high schools were tuning up, and both sounded great. The parade, thanks to a last-minute flurry of activity, ended up with 60 entries, including 10 floats, the two bands, a variety of dance groups, a motorcycle brigade and, of course, the star attraction - Santa. It was wonderful to see so many happy faces, belonging to people of different ages, getting ready to bring the folks lining Main Street some early Christmas cheer.

This was my first parade experience, and let me tell you, it was a great one. The weather outside was close to perfect, and it ultimately led to a very large turnout as spectators lined the streets from Riesbeck's to the municipal building.

Nancy Schloss, co-chairman of the Wintersville Betterment Committee, said this was the largest crowd she has ever seen.

"Each year, the Christmas parade just gets bigger and better," she said. "I've heard from a number of different people how much residents enjoy being a part of this event."

As a newcomer to the event, I was very, very impressed. This event was just another example of how the residents, businesses and leaders of the Wintersville community work together to make the village great. The parade ran very smoothly, started on time, and it seemed as though everyone involved had a great time.

It is great to see people from different backgrounds come together to celebrate the season. You could tell that the creators of the floats put in a lot of hard work and dedication to make everything look great. The members of the dance groups also put in hours upon hours perfecting their performances for the parade and in the end, I'm sure they felt that all their hard work paid off.

The parade definitely helped me get into the Christmas spirit, and I'm sure many of the spectators feel the same way.

I salute members of the betterment committee for all their hard work.

Events like these don't come easily. They take lots of effort, lots of volunteer time. For the sixth year in a row, the committee did a fantastic job when it comes to delivering the spirit of the season.

(Looman can be contacted at jlooman@heraldstaronline.com)