Wednesday, 11/24/04 | Middle Tennessee News & Information
Christmas parade moves to nighttime
By BRAD SCHRADE
Staff Writer
Organizer hopes this will rejuvenate interest in annual event
That's fine with Lynda Barton, director of Tennessee Twirlers Inc., a baton education group that will be entering its 42nd straight Christmas parade down Broadway on Dec. 3. The new timing will allow the group's baton artists to bring out some of their more dazzling props.
''I love a night parade,'' said Barton, who has directed the group for its four-plus decades. ''I will have four girls twirling fire batons. I'll have about six to eight girls twirling lighted batons.''
This is the type of enthusiasm the gas company hopes will rejuvenate the parade that in recent years saw the number of marching bands participating dwindle from about 10 to around four or five.
Sandra Minter, the company's coordinator for the event, said the change to Friday night has pushed the number of bands scheduled to 10 along with 30 floats and about 50 groups. She said the decision to move to Friday night grew out of a committee that looked of bands scheduled to 10 along with 30 floats and about 50 groups. She said the decision to move to Friday night grew out of a committee that looked at new ways to revive the parade.
''Everyone stated that a parade is not a parade without the bands,'' Minter said. ''Our hope was to get the bands back, and we've done that this year. … I've been told that the lights and everything is just beautiful. I've heard nothing but good things about other cities that have night parades.''
Before Nashville Gas became the sponsor, it was not unusual for the downtown parade to be held after dark. The decision to return to a night event came after the traditional first-Sunday-afternoon-in-December parade had undergone some significant alterations in recent years. When the Tennessee Titans moved to town in the late 1990s, it put a crimp in the parade tradition.
Downtown wasn't big enough for a pro football game and a Christmas parade, and parade organizers had to wait for the team's schedule each year before determining the date. The parade switched to Saturday mornings the past three years, but an annual band competition audition conflicted this year. That cut down on the number of bands that came to the parade and, thus, the move to Friday night, which Minter said she expects will become the new tradition. The parade grand marshal this year will be country pop singer Phil Vassar, whose current single is, I'll Take That As A Yes (The Hot Tub Song).
Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell will be in the parade, as he is every year, atop an antique fire truck. Purcell said he is optimistic the new parade day and time will make the event a success. He said it will showcase downtown and bring in people at night. ''I just like parades,'' Purcell said. ''I think most of us do, truthfully. I like being in our downtown when people are beginning to feel the spirit of the holidays.''
For Barton, she still likes the idea of the parade on Sunday but hopes the new time, while a bit colder, will help carry on the tradition of the parade for a long time. ''I hope it does,'' Barton said. ''I don't want them to lose it, ever. It's a great tradition. I love the Nashville Christmas parade. I have students who get so excited about the event.''
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