THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 9, 1995 TAG: 9512090340
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: By Anne Saita
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
With all the financial strains, high expectations and politics of gift-giving and family-gathering, the Christmas season can easily generate more grief than goodwill.
But there is at least one tradition that usually brings out the best in all of us: the small-town Christmas parade.
Last weekend, our Pasquotank County 4-H Club joined the North Carolina Forest Service to float through Elizabeth City in the Jaycees' annual cavalcade.
We were the ones riding on a flatbed truck with a Christmas tree surrounded by wheat straw, pine limbs and the banner ``I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas in Carolina.''
We also shared the stage with Smokey the Bear and sang greatly off-key. Adult Clover Patch II leaders Gail Hendricks, Tracey Chesson and Nell Kockler helped hold up our trophy for 2nd place among civic entries.
But even without the distinction, the experience was rewarding.
Where else can you begin your run through town by mumbling the words to ``We Wish You A Merry Christmas'' and have crowds cheer for you anyway?
Or feel compelled to shout out your true identity when your next-door neighbor doesn't recognize you in that red Santa's cap that sticks straight up?
Or take as much pride in the people watching you as they appeared to have in doing the same? I had a lot of goosebumps that morning, very few from being cold.
No, it isn't the Macy's parade in New York City. The bands aren't as plentiful; commercial floats aren't as elaborate. Celebrities are rarely recognized outside town limits. And candy-throwing is discouraged for safety reasons.
But you can always find a spot with a good view. The weather is generally warmer. And it won't take you two hours to get home afterward, with your bladder bulging because no one let you use their restrooms.
That Saturday morning, almost everyone on both sides of the street appeared happy. Those who weren't at least seemed willing to play along.
Newcomers can get a very good idea of what it's like to live in Elizabeth City, Manteo, Currituck, Gatesville, Ahoskie or Edenton by watching their Christmas parades.
Their new neighbors are often the featured attractions as fire trucks and sports cars and unicyclists and skateboarders and tractor-drawn wagons filled with kids rumble down main street.
And it's almost impossible to live here and not be noticed, even if you're a group of giddy 4-H'ers who couldn't hold a tune or resist hamming it up for all their friends and family in the crowds. by CNB