The 53rd Annual Pocomoke Christmas Parade kicks off holiday season
POCOMOKE CITY, Md. – The 53rd Annual Pocomoke Christmas Parade is kicking off the holiday season. Officials have been preparing for the event for several months.
The route is on the intersection of 14th Street and Market Street. Participants travel north until it ends at the Pocomoke River drawbridge.
Many people were lined up during the festive time, and the chill weather. It is considered one of Delmarva’s biggest traditions.
Parade Manager, Mike Shannon, said it will kick things off the right way. “The 53rd annual Pocomoke Christmas Parade, we do kick off the holiday season, we are the first for the Lower Delmarva Peninsula.”
There will be lights, music, floats, and marching parades. Shannon said the parade is one of his favorite things.
“One of my favorite things about the parade is when it was actually warm one year. Cause usually it doesn’t get warm, but it’s not good to have a Christmas parade without a little cold nip in the air.”
First responders, schools, city officials, and state officials are scheduled to make the walk. Downtown business owner of Simply Sublime massage – Mark Thompson recalls his first parade 15 years ago.
“It was longer than I ever anticipated, colder than I ever anticipated, but it was fantastic.”
The parade line up will start with the Pocomoke Police and Mayor Todd Nock and Council.
State Senator Mary Beth Carozza is also expected to be there – and even an appearance from Santa Claus.
Thompson says that the streets are beyond packed.
“Streets line up, it’s amazing to watch, we have people start dropping off chairs in the middle of the afternoon, top claim their spots. It’s hard to get parking because it’s so full and the streets are lined.”
Shannon is only the 2nd parade coordinator in Pocomoke City’s history. He tells us it’s an honor to be a part of this
tradition.
“It was a big step in my life, because I worked under the other people, and there have only been 2 chairmen on the Christmas parade, since it started 53 years ago. There have only been 2 sets of chairmens, that’s it.”
