Christmas parades march through town
December 10, 2014
Charlea Mills
Saturday marked a festive day for both Cassville and Exeter as the cities each had their annual Christmas parades. While the weather was chilly, the parades drew large crowds that enjoyed the holiday cheer spread through floats and various entries.
Mindi Artherton, Director of the Cassville Area Chamber of Commerce, stated, “I was very pleased with the parade this year. We had close to 65 parade entries, including Santa, and perfect weather. Main Street was crowded with onlookers, and it seemed like everyone was enjoying the festivities.”
Both Cassville and Exeter hand out various awards during their parades. For Cassville, categories included a religious division, a non-religious division, a commercial division, marching bands, a horse division and three awards for vehicles. Exeter awards in three float categories for schools, religious and non-religious. Exeter also awards for bands, both musical and non-musical, two horse awards and three vehicle awards.
Artherton went on to say, “The parade is such a fun tradition for Cassville. I just love seeing all the floats and other entries. One of my favorite things about organizing the parade is on Monday morning when I get to call the winners and let them know they have won. Our judges had a tough time deciding on award winners this year. We had some fantastic entries that people put a lot of time and effort into creating.”
Next week will mark parades for both Seligman and Wheaton with the parades beginning on Saturday, December 13, at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.
This year’s honors at Cassville went to:
• Religious Division: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
• Non-Religious Division: Southwest FFA
• Commercial Division: Cassville YMCA
• Marching Bands: Southwest
• Horse Division: D & R Auction Service
• Best Decorated Vehicle: Cassville Cruisers
• Oldest Vehicle: Wade Lauderdale in a 1962 International Tractor
• Most Unusual Vehicle: Carl Wilson in a 1998 Mini Peterbilt Truck.
Exeter’s awards went to:
• School Float:
1st - Southwest FFA
2nd - Exeter FFA
• Religious Float:
1st - Bethlehem Free Will Baptist Church
2nd - Prairie Hill Baptist Church
• Non-Religious Float:
1st - Exeter Trailblazers 4-H
2nd - Peoples Community Bank
•Musical Band:
1st - Southwest Band
2nd - Exeter Band
• Non-Musical Band:
1st - Southwest Flag Team
•Oldest Vehicle:
1st - Larry Averman 1950 Chevy Pickup
2nd - Ron Patrick 1954 Ford
• Best Decorated Vehicle:
1st - Ron Patrick 1954 Ford
2nd Place - Larry Averman 1950 Chevy Pickup
• Most Unusual Vehicle:
1st - Cassville Cruisers
2nd - BACA motorcycles
• Best Horse Presentation:
1st - D & R Auction Service, Schreiner horse and cart
2nd - Layton Henry, miniature horse
• Best of Show Horses:
1st - Schreiner Welding horse and cart
2nd - Mark Moller horse and wagon
• City Choice:
Michael Beach
Charlea Mills
Saturday marked a festive day for both Cassville and Exeter as the cities each had their annual Christmas parades. While the weather was chilly, the parades drew large crowds that enjoyed the holiday cheer spread through floats and various entries.
Mindi Artherton, Director of the Cassville Area Chamber of Commerce, stated, “I was very pleased with the parade this year. We had close to 65 parade entries, including Santa, and perfect weather. Main Street was crowded with onlookers, and it seemed like everyone was enjoying the festivities.”
Both Cassville and Exeter hand out various awards during their parades. For Cassville, categories included a religious division, a non-religious division, a commercial division, marching bands, a horse division and three awards for vehicles. Exeter awards in three float categories for schools, religious and non-religious. Exeter also awards for bands, both musical and non-musical, two horse awards and three vehicle awards.
Artherton went on to say, “The parade is such a fun tradition for Cassville. I just love seeing all the floats and other entries. One of my favorite things about organizing the parade is on Monday morning when I get to call the winners and let them know they have won. Our judges had a tough time deciding on award winners this year. We had some fantastic entries that people put a lot of time and effort into creating.”
Next week will mark parades for both Seligman and Wheaton with the parades beginning on Saturday, December 13, at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.
This year’s honors at Cassville went to:
• Religious Division: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
• Non-Religious Division: Southwest FFA
• Commercial Division: Cassville YMCA
• Marching Bands: Southwest
• Horse Division: D & R Auction Service
• Best Decorated Vehicle: Cassville Cruisers
• Oldest Vehicle: Wade Lauderdale in a 1962 International Tractor
• Most Unusual Vehicle: Carl Wilson in a 1998 Mini Peterbilt Truck.
Exeter’s awards went to:
• School Float:
1st - Southwest FFA
2nd - Exeter FFA
• Religious Float:
1st - Bethlehem Free Will Baptist Church
2nd - Prairie Hill Baptist Church
• Non-Religious Float:
1st - Exeter Trailblazers 4-H
2nd - Peoples Community Bank
•Musical Band:
1st - Southwest Band
2nd - Exeter Band
• Non-Musical Band:
1st - Southwest Flag Team
•Oldest Vehicle:
1st - Larry Averman 1950 Chevy Pickup
2nd - Ron Patrick 1954 Ford
• Best Decorated Vehicle:
1st - Ron Patrick 1954 Ford
2nd Place - Larry Averman 1950 Chevy Pickup
• Most Unusual Vehicle:
1st - Cassville Cruisers
2nd - BACA motorcycles
• Best Horse Presentation:
1st - D & R Auction Service, Schreiner horse and cart
2nd - Layton Henry, miniature horse
• Best of Show Horses:
1st - Schreiner Welding horse and cart
2nd - Mark Moller horse and wagon
• City Choice:
Michael Beach