Abingdon Christmas Parade Downsizing This Year

ABINGDON, Va. – After 40 years of growth, the Abingdon Christmas Parade is downsizing this year to make the event shorter and more regulated – changes that aren’t welcomed by the event’s founder.

“We had meetings with the town in the spring, and town officials and the Police Department wanted the parade shortened,” said Gary Crane, president of the Kiwanis Club of Abingdon, which runs the parade. “They say it takes much too long, it’s a public safety issue as far as fire and rescue and things like that. So we went to a new set of plans … to get to a more traditional type of Christmas parade.”

The changes require that all participants pre-register, pay a fee and receive a permit. The deadline to register has passed and the fees range from $10 for an individual entry to $25 for a group.

The parade will still be held on the traditional date – the Friday before Thanksgiving.

Crane said one result of the new requirements is that the normal 100 entries have fallen to about 60 for this year.

“The way we used to run the parade was ‘the bigger, the better and everybody come on down,’ which the town says has gotten out of hand,” Crane said. “We started at 4:30 in the afternoon at the staging area, and it ended up lasting until 9 o’clock at night, which is a long night, especially for kids when it’s cold.”

Sammy Campbell, who started the parade 40 years ago and has run it almost every year since, said he’s disappointed in the changes and has stepped down from his role as an organizer.

“I just thought it went all right,” Campbell said of previous parades. “Nothing’s perfect, but overall we had one of the biggest parades and the first parade in the area, and a majority of people I think were happy with it.”

Campbell said the parade was literally a community Christmas event because everyone could participate, and he didn’t think there were problems significant enough to require participation limits.

“The whole time I ran it, we never charged nobody,” Campbell said, noting that he disagrees with the restrictions and fees. After 50 years as a member of Kiwanis, he resigned from the club over the parade issue.

“If you don’t agree with something and just don’t go along with it, it’s time to step back and let them take care of it, which is fine,” Campbell said. “No hard feelings.”

The first parade had just three floats, Campbell said, but it grew every year.

Melissa Watson, library manager for the Historical Society of Washington County, said commercialism is part of the reason behind the growth.

“The stores and local whoever are trying to get … the parents to get out there and shop,” she said.

Crane said other restrictions will be that no tractor-trailers or horses will be allowed. Last-minute entries also will be excluded, he said, unless a special exception is made because someone is unaware of the new rules.

“Churches or families that put time or effort into making a float, we won’t turn them away, but it’s going to be real restrictive. Not just anybody can show up now and say, ‘I want a permit to get in the parade,’ ” he said.

As always, Crane said, Santa Claus will bring up the rear.

“We’re hoping the changes will be acceptable to most people, and hopefully set a standard for Christmases to come,” Crane said.

Campbell said he’s not sure yet how people will react.

“Either they’re going to be happy that it’s much shorter, or they’re going to be unhappy because there’s going to be several things that aren’t in there because they didn’t pay a fee,” Campbell said.

Abingdon Police Lt. Bill Snodgrass said Main Street, from the courthouse to Hutton Street, will close at 5 p.m., and the street will be blocked from there to Southern States by about 6:15 p.m. Traffic through town will be detoured to Valley Street until Main Street reopens after the parade.

Snodgrass advised those attending to arrive early to get a parking space. Residents who want to avoid the parade and its crowd should stay out of the Abingdon area by using Interstate 81, he added.

“They can get on at Exit 19 or Exit 14 and that way just miss the town entirely,” he said.

dmccown@bristolnews.com | (276) 791-0701