GREENFIELD — Snuggled between his parents and golden retriever in the back of the family’s minivan, 2-year-old Jagger Jarrett watched with glee as more than a dozen floats decked out in twinkling lights cruised by in the City of Greenfield’s annual Christmas parade.
The parade kicked off at 6:30 p.m. Saturday as hundreds of people lined the downtown streets to embrace the festive holiday tradition.
Organizers say it was one of the biggest parades in recent history.
“I think it was one of the best parades we’ve had for a number of years,” said Nancy Alldredge, a longtime member of the Riley Festival Association, which hosts the parade each year.
While this year’s parade had some newcomers — like Friends of Riley and the St. Michael’s ladies guild — the majority of floats were designed by the City of Greenfield’s various departments.
“I think they have a bit of rivalry between them as to who can come up with the best float,” said Alldredge.
The city’s water department had a float depicting characters working on a busted pipe, with blue lights twinkling in the shape of water shooting out. The waste water department had a float with a pink porta potty, with an employee portraying the Cousin Eddie character from the “Christmas Vacation” movie classic.
Greenfield Power & Light covered a utility bucket truck with hundreds of lights — as well as a tiny cabin lit up with lights — which delighted the crowd as the rolling display made its way down Main Street.
The parks department’s floats weren’t far behind. Maintenance operations manager Josh Gentry drove the converted school bus that serves as the department’s Recreation Station, carrying oversized games, inflatables and other goodies for special events.
Just behind that came the Pennsy Express, a brightly lit train engine pulling a passenger car filled with parks department employees and their family members.
Greenfield mayor Chuck Fewell led the parade walking hand-in-hand with his wife, Kristin, and of course Santa himself made an appearance at the end, waving to the crowd as he sat high atop the bucket of a fire engine.
This year’s parade took a new route, starting in front of the Hancock County Annex on American Legion Place and proceeding west down Main Street, then south down Pennsylvania Street where it ended at Depot Street Park.
The crowd made its way toward the park at the end of the parade, when Santa joined Mayor Fewell in lighting the massive Christmas tree on the park’s stage. Donated by a local resident, the tree nearly touched the top of the 30-foot-tall amphitheater.
After welcoming the crowd, the mayor gave the cue to light up the tree, which resulted in collective “oohs” and “ahhs” from the crowd, as “The Christmas Song” by Nat King Cole began to play over the sound system.
As soon as the tree was lit, dozens of children lined up for a chance to visit with Santa on stage in his little red house, which for years had been located on the nearby Courthouse Plaza before being moved to Depot Street Park this year.
Tasha Smith of Greenfield, who was part of the Friends of Riley float, was a fan of the change in venue.
“It’s a lot less crowded, and it seems like there are so many more people here this year,” she said as thongs of people mingled throughout the park enjoying the elaborate light display.
Her boyfriend, Matt Mabee of Greenfield, was also a fan of moving the tree lighting to the park. “It’s great to see everyone coming out to share in this event. It has a great small-town feel,” he said, as a string of red and green Christmas lights flashed around his neck.
Two-year-old Jagger’s dad— Chris Jarrett — felt the same way.
“This feels just like a scene from a Hallmark movie,” he said while sandwiched between his son and his wife, Jillian, and their golden retriever, Harleigh, in the back of the family’s van.
Decked out in a festive Christmas sweater and winter hat with flashing red and green lights, the Greenfield man was embracing his son’s first holiday parade.
“Merry Christmas,” Jarrett shouted to passersby who were headed from the parade to the park, which was aglow in thousands of twinkling lights.
Gentry said the city’s parks and street departments worked together to fill Depot Street Park and the adjacent Pennsy Trail with roughly 100,000 lights this year.
“We got a lot of really positive feedback from both social media and people attending the tree lighting. We work so hard for weeks ahead of time, so that’s really rewarding to hear,” said Gentry, who said the light display will stay lit throughout the end of the year.
The same goes for the city’s holiday lights along Main Street downtown, and the six lighted Christmas trees in the roundabouts along McKenzie Street and New Road.
Scott Yost, director of Greenfield Power & Light, said it’s been an honor for his department to light up the city in collaboration with the city’s street and parks departments over the past few years.
“I think everything has turned out really great,” said Yost, whose staff helped move this year’s giant Christmas tree at Depot Street Park into place, and has helped set up the lights in the roundabouts as well as downtown.
Yost thinks the city’s holiday light display has grown big enough to draw in visitors from out of town, and anticipates it will only get bigger and better each year.
