Spirit in the streets
By Joey Pitchford and Steve Herring
Published in News on December 4, 2016 1:45 AM
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Santa waves to the crowd on Center Street during the Goldsboro Christmas Parade Saturday evening. Parades in Goldsboro, Fremont and Mount Olive filled the day with holiday cheer. Pikeville's parade will be held today at 3 p.m.
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Sophia Cromartie, 5, reacts to a float in the Goldsboro parade Saturday. Also pictured is Robyn Tyndall.
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A group of people from Emily's Boutique walk down the street dressed as Christmas goodies and candy during the Goldsboro parade.
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Children wave from the Aycock Tractor float in Goldsboro Saturday early evening.
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Arie, 10, and AJ Coley, 5, pick up candy during the Fremont Christmas parade.
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Grand Marshall Channcey Simms throws a handful of candy to a group of children Saturday during the Fremont Christmas parade.
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Children throw candy from the Mount Olive Fire Department replica fire truck during the Mount Olive Christmas parade.
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Children sing while riding on the Voices of Distinction float Saturday in Mount Olive.
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A Girl Scout holds marshmallows on a stick as she sings carols while riding on the troop 389 float Saturday morning in Mount Olive.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
The Spring Creek High School band plays in Santa hats as they march down Breazeale Avenue during the Mount Olive Christmas parade Saturday morning.
Chilly weather did nothing to dampen the spirits of the hundreds who turned out for Christmas parades in Goldsboro, Fremont and Mount Olive Saturday, as people gathered along the streets to celebrate the season with their communities.
The day of parades began in Mount Olive at 10 a.m.
Gene Sasser has always enjoyed the Mount Olive Christmas parade, watching children's faces light up as he tossed out handfuls of candy from his horse-drawn wagon.
He also enjoyed that children were excited to see his horse Patty -- so named because she was born on St. Patrick's Day.
Patty made her annual trek down Breazeale Avenue Saturday morning as thousands lined the street to watch the 100-unit parade sponsored by the Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce.
Children, clutching plastic bags, dodged in and out of the street scooping up batches of candy being thrown from the units including Sasser's wagon.
However, this year Kaleb Brock, 20, held the reins -- a tribute to his great-uncle who suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
"I would go in the past and help him with parades," said Brock a student at the University of Mount Olive and works at Monsanto. "He wasn't able to do it this year because the Alzheimer's has gotten way worse so I figured I would carry on the little tradition that he had.
"Just being around with him made me want to do it."
Riding with Brock were Sasser's family members and one of his longtime friends.
It took about three days to make preparations for the parade, he said.
Brock said he had not really talked to his uncle about his decision to participate in the parade because the disease has so damaged Sasser's ability to remember.
"It made me feel good that I was kind of able to carry on the tradition," Brock said. "I want to continue the tradition going forward. I think he just liked seeing the little kid's faces when he was riding by.
"He seemed to be real happy last year when he saw their faces and how happy they were and how much joy it brought to them."
Brock said that that was true for him as well.
Along with tossing out candy, the Sasser family threw out some bracelets from the Alzheimer's Association.
Brock encouraged people to learn more about the disease and to support the Alzheimer's Association.
The parade also was a family affair for Aaron Crumpler, 5, of Dudley, who said his favorite part of the parade would be watching his father, Eric, drive by in an Arrington Fire Department fire truck.
Or at least it would be until Santa rode by in Danny Jackson's horse and buggy. Riding with Santa was junior marshal Anna Lee Sutton whose name was drawn Friday night during the town's holiday open house activities that including lighting the town's radio tower.
Aaron said he didn't want to ride in the fire truck because he wanted to watch the parade.
Aaron was with his mom, Kristi, and his sister, Brooke, 7.
Brooke said she was going to be the Fremont parade later in the day and in Pikeville's today.
Fremont's parade began only a few hours after Mount Olive's, around 1 p.m., and it was headed by Grand Marshall Channcey Simms, the first black student at Fremont School, followed by members of the Fremont Board of Alderman and Mayor Darron Flowers. They tossed candy out into the crowd, and children laughed and scrambled to pick it up before their friends -- or a few enterprising adults -- could get to it.
The Charles B. Aycock band, wearing reindeer antlers and Santa hats, were a crowd favorite as they marched down Main Street playing Jingle Bell Rock. They were followed by candy-throwing county commissioners and a cavalcade of fire trucks from all over the county.
The parade moved down Main Street, turning south onto Goldsboro Street before eventually disbanding near Dock Street.
As the day wore on, the Goldsboro parade took shape on Center Street around 4 p.m. Hundreds of people lined both sides of the street eager to see the bands, floats and cars cruise through downtown.
Bobby Coley stood on the sidewalk with his wife and three children. He said that his family comes to the parade every year as a way to get out and enjoy some music.
"We love the drums," he said to a chorus of agreement from his children, "We like to bring the kids. It's an annual thing, shows support for the city."
Along with the numerous drum lines and school marching bands, the parade included a variety of floats based on popular characters like Disney princesses, The Wizard of Oz and characters from the movie Frozen. Added to the JROTC rifle groups and other public figures, there was plenty to keep people entertained.
Terrence Johnson returned to the parade for the second time with his family to see his relatives perform in some of the marching bands. The music created an atmosphere where he could relax and be friendly with the people around him.
"I just like seeing the floats, and being outside so I can socialize, mingle," he said.
As the temperature began to drop, attendance did not, even as many of the parade floats and walking groups had begun to circle around back down Center Street. The crowd seemed just as engaged as when the color guard first walked down the road.
One person having no issues getting into the swing of things was 7-year-old Levi Evans, who danced like nobody was watching as the drum lines pounded out their beats. Although he clearly enjoyed the music, he said that the high-end sports cars revving their engines on the street at the time were his real favorite attraction.
"I love the event, and I really love the blue and black corvettes," he said. "The blue one is because blue is my favorite color, and the black one is because the tires match really well."
Also, he said, he liked football more than dancing.
Brittany Robinson, Levi's aunt, said that seeing the floats was what brought her to the parade. This was the first time she had been to the parade with the group of nieces and nephews she came with, and she said it was a welcome way to get some of their energy out.
As she said that, the kids began another round of dancing and yelling. It seemed there was still more fun to be had.