Festival of Lights parade heads into 11th year

By Savannah Cummings, Journal staff | Friday, December 05, 2008

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Rapid City will be full of holiday spirit Saturday night as the 11th annual Festival of Lights parade fills Main Street with glowing, festive, Christmas-filled floats.

This year, organizers for the parade are expecting close to 70 floats created by local businesses, community groups and nonprofit organizations.

Many repeat groups will be participating in the parade, said co-chair Sue McCormick, who started the parade with Carol Brown. New groups in the parade including Black Hills Workshop, Cabela’s and Reptile Gardens.

The nursing students of South Dakota State University West River also will be participating in the parade for the first time this year. Their float will attempt to teach Santa how to make healthier choices other than Christmas cookies.

Student Crystal Hollenbeck, secretary of the Nursing  Students Association, is heading up the project.

“It’s fun,” Hollenbeck said of her first attempt at building a float. “It’s a good way to bond with each other and showcase some of the artistic talents we have in the nursing community.”

The NSA members have been working on their float in their spare time, something most nursing students don’t have a lot of, Hollenbeck said, so getting the project off the ground was a bit of a challenge.

Reptile Gardens will be sending its float, themed “Jingle in the Jungle,” down the parade route for the first time, too. It’s something the company has wanted to do for several years, said assistant manager Clint Hubbeling.

“We’ve had the idea of doing it for several years but never followed through,” he said. “This year, we just kind of pushed and pushed (to do it).”

The float will feature light-up palm trees and a giant alligator, in keeping with the group’s business. There are several employees helping build the float, Hubbeling said, and they are excited for about it.

“That was one of the reasons that we wanted to push for it this year; there’s a lot of enthusiasm for it,” he said.

About 30,000 people are expected to watch the parade along its route from the post office, down Main Street then up Mount Rushmore Road, ending at Central High School. Another 20,000 usually watch the parade as it is broadcast live on television, said Nan Oukrop, administrative assistant for the festival.

At the end of the parade is an award party, where 16 awards are given out to the best and brightest in the show. A “jinx” award is given to the float that has the most problems, McCormick said. One year, that award was given to a bunch of sheep, which got lost in the staging area and were unable to make it down the parade route.

The parade is the largest one-day event in Rapid City, McCormick said.

“Our whole mission was to bring an event that would bring all the people to a one-night event to start off the holiday season,” she said. “It’s not just Rapid City; it stretches out to all the communities.”

It takes about 200 volunteers to put on the parade, including help from the Rapid City Police Department and Faith Lutheran Church for crowd control. Other organizations and individuals help with organizing the floats before and after the parade.

McCormick said she expects this year’s parade to be just as fabulous as previous years’.

“We have had fabulous entries, from nonprofit to businesses,” she said. “There’s not anybody who doesn’t put in 100 percent effort to putting their floats together. That’s why it’s such a success. The floats are fabulous. They are definitely why it’s all working.”

The parade will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday, regardless of weather, McCormick said.

There will be no parking allowed on Main Street the day of the parade to allow for an unobstructed view of the floats. Other parking downtown will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.

There will be vendors set up along the parade route selling sweets and hot beverages to help keep parade watchers warm. Parking will be at a premium, so be prepared to walk a ways to find a spot, and dress warmly.

“I just encourage everybody to come out,” McCormick said. “It is a fabulous event for all families.”

If you go

What: 11th annual Festival of Lights parade

When: 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29

Where: The parade will travel from the post office, down Main Street and then turn north on Mount Rushmore Road, ending at Central High School.

There will be no parking on Main Street between Fifth and Eighth streets on Saturday to allow for maximum viewing.

Contact Savannah Cummings at 394-8434 or savannah.cummings@rapidcityjournal.com.