Parade, festivities kick off holiday season

Captured Images/Kenny Felt ABOVE -- Ella Beth, Fort Scott, waves as the Big Brothers Big Sisters float passes by during the Old Fashioned Downtown Christmas parade Tuesday evening in downtown Fort Scott. AT RIGHT -- Dryden Cosens, Fort Scott, watches as the downtown Christmas tree lights up on Skubitz Plaza at the north end of Main Street. Spectators lined the parade route, which began a southbound procession at Wall Street and National Avenue, turned east on Third Street, then moved northward toward the Plaza in front of the Fort Scott National Historic Site.

With cold weather in the forecast later this week, the second annual Old Fashioned Downtown Fort Scott Christmas parade couldn't have happened at a better time.

With light winds and temperatures in the low 60s on Tuesday evening, parade enthusiasts of all ages lined up near the corner of Wall Street and National Avenue, and along portions of Main Street in downtown Fort Scott, to watch the annual holiday parade. Unseasonable late-November weather greeted crowds this year, quite the opposite of the wintry chill that undoubtedly kept many area residents home during the parade last year.

Many of the parade watchers headed downtown to watch family members in the parade, including Fort Scott native Joe Sheehy, who brought his wife, Amber, and daughter to watch his oldest daughter ride through on one of the many floats featured in the parade. Sheehy said this was the second year he and his family have attended the parade, which this year featured about 40 entries and a visit from Old Saint Nick.

Sheehy said the time of day organizers chose is the perfect time for a parade.

"I really like the idea of them (the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Downtown Division) having it at night, and what they do with the lights and things like that."

Sheehy lives in Fort Scott and works in Nevada. The Sheehys would also be heading down to Skubitz Plaza following the parade to watch Santa Claus light the giant 24-foot Christmas tree that a local committee added to local holiday festivities last year. Amber Sheehy agreed with her husband in that the parade had more to offer the public this year.

"It's really improved over the years," she said.

Fort Scott resident Nathan Smith was another parade watcher who was there to support his family.

Smith, who got comfortable in a lawn chair eating popcorn in front of a local restaurant, said he makes it a point to watch the parade each year. Despite the crowds that gathered in the area before the parade started, Smith said he had no trouble finding a parking space and his favorite spot to watch his daughter, Kayla, on one of the parade floats.

While he enjoys watching the Christmas parade each year, Smith said parade planners could probably alter some aspects of the parade -- which typically lasts about half an hour -- in future years to make it last a little bit longer.

"They could add some things to it," Smith said.

Long-time Fort Scott residents Tom and Karen Jones were also downtown, but said their children were grown and they had nobody to watch in the parade this year. That didn't stop the Jones', who moved to Fort Scott more than 20 years ago from Iowa, from taking in the annual event. Tom Jones, a retired former postmaster in Fort Scott who retired in 1997, said he enjoys watching the old cars that are featured in the parade.

"I like the old metal," he said.

His wife, on the other hand, said she is simply a huge fan of parades.

"I like everything," Karen Jones said. "Of course, I have to see Santa."

The parade began at the corner of Old Fort Boulevard and National Ave., and continued south to Third Street before heading north on Main Street back to Skubitz Plaza for the official lighting of the downtown Christmas tree. Fort Scott Police officers led the parade, which also featured trucks from the Fort Scott Fire Department.

Other entries and floats in the parade included various organizations, businesses and local symbols such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 1165, the American Legion, the Fort Scott Tiger Car, the Fort Scott High School marching band, the Bourbon County Relay for Life, Medicalodge, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bourbon County, the Boy Scouts, the Fort Scott Tribune, Atkins Insurance, St. Mary's Catholic School, the Mirza Shriners, the Fort Scott National Historic Site, the Pioneer Harvest Fiesta, the Fort Scott Community College marching band, Dolly the Trolley, the FSCC football team, America's Cover Miss and Fort Scott resident Kim Henry, and the Bourbon County rural fire department.

A horse and buggy carrying Santa Claus concluded the parade near Skubitz Plaza where, other than the tree lighting ceremony, the public gathered to enjoy refreshments, view brand new Christmas decorations and lights, and hear the announcement of winning entries in the parade. Santa Claus visited with children inside his workshop at the Bourbon County Senior Citizens Center after the parade.