It could have been a scene right out of Who-Ville: dogs dressed as reindeer, people singing Christmas carols and spectators sipping hot chocolate.
Even the Grinch was present at the 33rd annual Greater Clarksburg Associates Christmas Parade Monday night.
At 6:30 p.m., the Christmas lights on Main Street came on and signaled the beginning of the 120-entry parade that lasted for more than 90 minutes.
One of the marching bands that braved the 46-degree weather was the South Harrison Alumni Band. The band is unusual in that most of their 50 members graduated in the '70s.
"We have people marching in the alumni band who graduated in 1966 all the way through 2000," said member Robin Bennett Hicks.
The band doesn't have uniforms but still marched in matching orange sweatshirts and jeans. Bennett Hicks plays the flute and the band performs two times a year -- at the South Harrison homecoming parade and at the Christmas parade, she said.
"We play a lot of stuff from the '70s, and we are still using the same drum cadence from back then," she said. "We all remember the fun times we had when we were in band and this is a way to recapture it."
Five-year-old David Miller was so excited to come to the parade he started getting ready at 4:30 p.m., according to his mother Janet Miller of Clarksburg. Getting ready included dressing in costume.
Antlers were attached to David's headband and on his nose he wore a battery-operated glowing red nose.
"I'm a reindeer you know," David said smiling.
It wasn't just children who were joining in the fun.
Husband and wife Phyllis and Willie Beverlin of Clarksburg were also festively dressed. He in a Santa hat, and she in antlers with bells.
"You gotta be a kid at heart - it's Christmas," Phyllis said.
The biggest attraction at the parade was Santa. Ten-year old Ronnie Fazzini was waiting patiently to see the man in the red suit. His favorite part of the parade is the candy, he said.
"I've got candy canes, suckers and bubble gum so far," he said. "I was in the parade last year and now I'm just watching, but either way you get candy!"
Staff writer Jennifer Biller can be reached at 626-1449 or jbiller@exponent-telegram.com.
