Wow. The organizers and participants of this year’s Williamsburg Feels Like Home Christmas Parade out did themselves Saturday night.
While I haven’t been to all the Williamsburg Christmas parades over the past 30 years, I have been to most, and this was one of, if not the best one that I have personally witnessed.
There were numerous floats with varying themes, antique vehicles, emergency service vehicles and various groups marching down Main Street.
Hundreds braved the cold to turn out and watch the parade.
Great job everyone.
Also, Williamsburg’s Hanging of the Green celebration on Dec. 6 has turned into a nice little festive way to start the holidays. This is a simple 30-minute or so event with Christmas carols sung, a local pastor reading the Christmas story, and the lighting of the town Christmas tree.
For those that missed it, it is worth checking out next year.
I didn’t get the chance to see the Corbin Christmas Parade, which was on the same night as Williamsburg’s Hanging of the Green celebration, but based on Trevor Sherman’s photographs, it appeared to have gone really well.
In addition, I thought that the Holiday Health and Safety Open House at the Whitley County Health Department Friday also went well with a nice turnout from the public and several participating vendors.
I hung out for the last half of the event at the Cumberland River Behavioral Health Victim’s Services table with my wonderful wife, Cecelia, who is the director of that program.
One nice thing about events, such as this, is you can sometimes pick up some pretty good swag. My wife’s table gave away some nice, big coffee mugs and some windshield scrapers among other items. I always stock up on ink pens at events like this as you can never have too many. Plus, there never seems to be an ink pen around when you need one…LOL.
Hopefully they will have this event again next year.
Before I conclude this column, let me take a few minutes and brag on a couple of local residents that have recently had some interesting adventures, and to say a brief word about another.
Williamsburg Independent School Agriculture Teacher Toraleah Shelley recently joined 144 other volunteers from a total of 47 different states to help decorate the White House for Christmas. This is pretty darn cool.
News Journal reporter Leeann Fragosa had a nice article in last week’s addition detailing Shelley’s adventures. It is a good read if you have not already read it.
I don’t know how he does it all. My friend Kenny Carr is a banker, a school board member and a pastor in addition to being a husband and a father. Yet, he still manages to go on an annual mission trip with a few others to Uganda in Africa.
Usually, it is shortly after Christmas, but this year the trip was in late November and Kenny got back to the states on Dec. 4. I am glad that he made it home safe. Kenny always talks passionately about these mission trips, and about what the Lord has accomplished during each one. I look forward to hearing about the details the next time I see him.
Before I conclude this column, I just wanted to give a shout out to my friend David Etter. His wife, Terresa Etter, posted on Facebook last week that David left the hospital after Thanksgiving to come home under hospice care as he “prepares to move to heaven.”
David was a longtime music professor at the University of the Cumberlands. I got to know him much better over the years through the Williamsburg Kiwanis Club where we both used to be members before it disbanded. I am not sure that I have ever seen David when he didn’t have a smile on his face.
I just want to say to David that you are a good man with a beautiful voice, who will be greatly missed by those of us that know you when you pass. I look forward to watching you direct a choir in heaven one day.
