SEBASTIAN — It was tough to find enough grass space to squeeze in a lawn chair along Indian River Drive on Saturday night as the City of Sebastian prepared for its annual Christmas parade.
Lead by the flashing lights of city safety vehicles, police cars and fire engines, the parade continued for several blocks. Floats decked out with strings of lights and inflatable Christmas characters were separated by dance teams and members of local organizations tossing candy and handing out glow sticks to cheering spectators.
“This is our second time at the Christmas parade,” said Amy Galloway of Sebastian. Galloway’s two daughters, Tierny Gould and Rhiana Gould, ages 9 and 11, were participating in the parade as cheerleaders for Sebastian Elementary’s cheer squad.
Galloway said a deciding factor in moving her family from Melbourne to Sebastian were the numerous community events the city provides.
“Events like this give [Sebastian] a small town feel, even with a lot of people. That’s why we enjoy it here so much,” Galloway said.
“They do a really good job of this parade every year,” said Dylan McDougall, a 12-year-old resident of Sebastian.
Dylan’s father, Dennis McDougall, said his family has been coming to the parade for the past 10 years, or as long as Dylan can remember.
“I loved the pirate ship!” said Dylan’s younger brother, Luke McDougall as he jumped up and down on the sidewalk wearing his Santa hat and a string of beads he caught from one of the floats.
The pirate ship Luke was referring to was a hot item float at the parade. It was brightly lit with Christmas lights and chock full of pirates and their feathered parrot friends. The bunch was led by Captain Daniel Red of Calypso Pirate Crew and Cindy Nichols of Angel Wings Parrot Rescue.
“The parade was great! It just went by too quick,” said Red. “We were running by the end of it, I just wish it was longer.”
Red said he was appreciative of the invitation to participate in the city’s annual event as the Calypso Pirate Crew is not exclusive to the Sebastian area.
Nichols echoed Red’s appreciation, stating any awareness that can be raised around her non-profit is beneficial in aiding the rescue of parrots from unwanted or unable to keep homes.
“We have 30 in the rescue right now and many more in foster care,” Nichols said.
Poppy, a small parrot perched on Nichols’ shoulder nodded in humble appreciation of all the attention and occasionally squawked out a few words of gratitude.
The Calypso pirates and their talkative group of parrots represented two of the many worthy local groups and organizations in the parade.
At the end of the day, the McDougall family agreed, it’s not about which float had the best characters or the most lights, but how the parade represented the city.
“There is just always something going on here and it’s always great for the kids. Just a very good family event,” said Dorothy McDougall as she helped her son Luke gather all of his parade goodies. “We just love it.”