Elvis Presley fans got a real treat with this year’s Holiday Caravan parade when the King made a special appearance, along with Kris Kringle and others.
As the float for the Rufty-Holmes Senior Center went by, carrying the King, shouts of “Elvis!”echoed through the air, carried on the whipping wind.
“That was something else,” Cheryl Graham said with a laugh.
“When he started dancing, he did all right and he was trying to do some moves. ... He shook his leg and hips a little bit.”
Hollis Hilton played Elvis on the float and captured more than just Graham’s interest.
He helped Rufty-Holmes Senior Center capture second place in this year’s professional floats category.
Some parade patrons got a real pleasure from Disney characters brought to life by the West Rowan cheerleaders.
The group portrayed characters including Tigger, Snow White, Pinocchio and others.
“It’s as cute as can be,”said Kaye Brown Hirst, director of the Rowan Museum. The float earned West Rowan third place in the non-professional float category.
Other cartoon characters that made an appearance included some of Charles Schulz’s creations with a three-dimensional Charlie Brown float with Snoopy sleeping on his dog house.
“It was a homage to Charles Schulz, ‘Thanks for the Memories, Charlie Brown,’ ”said Denny Mecham, director of Waterworks Visual Arts Center, which supplied the float.
Joel Smeltzer, education coordinator with Waterworks, built the float with help from Salisbury High School students Justin Adkins and Adam Panell.
According to Mecham, the group chose Charlie Brown because of “the timeliness of Charles Schulz and so many people grew up with the comic strip.”
The design won them first place in the non-professional and non-business float category.
Second place was picked up by the Society for Creative Anachronism, even though they didn’t have a float.
But they had more then enough equipment to get people’s attention as the motley crew of Medieval men and their maiden mascot paraded through downtown Salisbury with their own weapons.
Trouble erupted into a mock sword fight in the middle of Main Street with swords crashing and clashing.
“You should have seen us when we where in Spencer while we were still fresh,”Tom Marts said with a laugh, after his latest “battle.”
For some of the people at the parade, it wasn’t the floats or the bands that made them happy to endure the windy weather.
“I think the cotton candy is his favorite thing,”Krista Monroe joked as he pointed at her son Robbie, 3, whose face was caked in pink cotton candy.
“He’s got a beard!”Monroe added with a laugh, as Robbie stuffed even more cotton candy down his mouth.
Robbie and his mother were part of three generations at the parade. Joining them was Monroe’s mother, Carolyn Hicks.
They have probably seen just about every float since Monroe was a little girl. But each year the parade always seems to have at least one new entry and this year was no exception, with a new character walking his way down the streets of Salisbury.
“We like the Kool-Aid dude!” exclaimed Angie Adams, 22, of Spencer, referring to the character that slammed through walls and resembled a giant pitcher of red Kool-Aid.
Her friend Suzy Wright enjoyed yet another part of the parade. “I liked the clown. He was nice and he came up and gave me a sucker,”said Wright, 15, of Lexington.
No matter what part of the parade patrons liked there was plenty to enjoy, especially for newcomers like Becky Lindsay, who came from Richmond, Va., for Thanksgiving with her family.
It was her first time at the parade and she was already impressed.
“I think what Ilike the best is the variety and you can tell a lot of work has gone into it because it looks so professional,”Lindsay said. “You can tell a lot of people care about the town because they are coming out to enjoy it.”
“It really gets you into the holiday spirit.”
Other winners in the 2000 Holiday Caravan include:
Bands
- A.L. Brown, Honor Band, first.
- 147 South Rowan High School, second .
- North Rowan High School, third.
Front line awards
- A.L. Brown, Best Drum Major.
- Majorettes A.L. Brown, Best Majorette.
- North Rowan, Best Flag Squad.
- Salisbury YMCA, Best Drill Team.
Dance groups
Gospel Disciples Step Team, first place.
Professional floats
- Dorsett Chapel United Methodist Church of Christ, first place.
- Rufty-Holmes Senior Center, second.
- Salisbury-Rowan Medical Center, third.
Non-professional floats
- East Rowan High School Cheerleaders, first place.
- Central United Methodist Church, Spencer, second.
- West Rowan Cheerleaders, third.
Non-professional/ non-business
- Waterworks Visual Arts Center, first place.
- Society for Creative Anachronism, second.
- N.C. Transportation Museum, third.
General entries
- Central United Methodist Church, Spencer, General Chairman’s Award.
- Society for Creative Anachronism, Executive Director’s Award.
- N.C. Transportation Museum, Best Depiction of “Happy Holidays” Theme (Judges Award).
- Bethlehem Gold Hill UMC, Best Religious Entry.
- Dorsett Chapel United Church of Christ, Carl E. Weinbrunn Award.
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