December 12, 2008

Santa Claus came to town

Santa waves to the crowd from atop his enormous sleigh. Photos by Bill Highlander

Annual holiday parade delights crowd

By Bill Highlander
Editor

Santa Claus rode atop a huge red sleigh as he trailed the Christmas parade in downtown San Jose. Thousands of people with hundreds of kids lined the parade route and followed Santa to Christmas in the Park where he listened to requests for presents to be left under the tree.

The annual parade has enchanted the holiday crowd for 27 years and according to USA Today, San Jose has one of the top 25 parades in the country. The sunny but cool Sunday morning was a perfect day for the floats, huge balloons, marching bands, cartoon characters Spider-Man and Darth Vader to delight the spectators along the route.

Bands, floats, musicians and dancers all delighted spectators.

The Evergreen Valley High School marching band, playing music of the season and looking sharp, led Santa’s sleigh. As usual, politicians rode in cars, waving to the crowd and wishing everyone a happy holiday.

Restaurants and coffee shops were crowed after the parade as families shared lunch and warm drinks. Many lingered around Chavez Plaza to view the decorated trees and animated displays of Christmas in the Park, a favored tradition for visitors to downtown. Carnival rides and skating in the Circle of Palms were also fun things to do.

The 24-foot tall horse in front of the Tech was also an attention-getter and the Leonardo exhibit inside the hall is drawing a large number of visitors.

The current economic situation did not seem to dampen the festive mood; perhaps the spirit of the holidays is a needed diversion.