Birthday parade brings out the best in Apopka

Inspiration

By Reggie Connell

I'm not much of a parade guy. They move slow. They are predictable. They attract huge crowds which makes parking and departing impossible. Even at Disney World I avoid parades and take advantage of smaller lines at the other rides while hundreds stand around watching them.

I do not watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day, The Rose Bowl or any other televised parades... and why do the emcees always seem surprised at the next float in line as if they have no idea what will happen next? They go one-mile-an-hour and are right behind the float they just described.

When my daughter was young I took her to several parades in Central Florida. She loved them.

I hoped and prayed she would grow out of that phase, but now she is a 25-year-old adult and continues to seek them out as a form of entertainment and joy. My daughter and I agree on most everything, except for her unhealthy love of parades.

I hope I was able to thoroughly illustrate my contempt for parades in those first four paragraphs, because this will give the next sentence more impact.

For the first time in memory I enjoyed a parade yesterday morning - The Apopka Christmas Parade.

I'm a reformed parade-hater. I'm on the road to recovery. I'm Ebenezer Scrooge after the ghosts visited.

It started with my drive to Apopka.

I took 436 to Sheeler Avenue and circled left onto Monroe Avenue with the intent to park at Kit Land Nelson Park. That plan was squashed a mile down the road when I saw a police barricade re-directing traffic back to Main Street. I turned left onto Main and started looking for a parking space, but they were all full. At first it annoyed me, but then it hit me...the businesses of Apopka seemed to be allowing parade-goers to park in their spaces.

How great is that?

I crossed Park, turned right and found a space in Seacoast Bank's temporary home next to several other cars clearly not there to do banking. I got out and looked around for undercover Apopka police officers just waiting to ticket me or tow my truck away...but I saw no one.

I walked to Park Avenue and caught up with Apopka Calvary Church of the Nazarene’s Biker Church. They call themselves AC/BC. Not far down from them was the Cub Scout and Boy Scout Troop 639 from Zellwood performing “Elf on the Shelf.”

Only at a parade can you see bikers and cub scouts side-by-side.

I walked about half-a-mile through the crowds on the west side of the parade route. The audience had settled in, but it was still easy to walk through. They say the most segregated place in America is a church on Sunday morning, but I can say with near-certainty the most integrated/diverse place I've been in awhile is the Apopka Christmas Parade.

There was no concern with race, politics or ethnicity...just poll position in proximity to Park Avenue and a clear view of the parade.

Families and friends congregated together with other groups side-by-side. Teenage girls yelled and screamed the names of boys they liked in the parade. Parents waved proudly at their children on floats and clicked photos from their phones. According to officials at I-Phone, there were one billion photos taken in Apopka yesterday.

Just kidding.

The unlikely duo of Santa Claus and Apopka Fire Chief Chuck Carnesale brought up the rear, riding on a fire Engine waving to the crowd. It was the first time I remember a fire truck blaring its horn, and no one getting out of their way.

Only at a parade.

At the end of this parade... a parade that has been a part of Apopka culture for 40 years now... I realized this isn't just a slow-walk for 90-something floats and bands, but a massive community event that attracts 25,000 people. They come together along with The City of Apopka, the police department, the fire department, a laundry list of local businesses and churches to celebrate community, family, friends and a very special birthday on December 25th.

This is the best of Apopka.

I still doubt I will watch television parades or seek them out as quality entertainment, but I will be back for the Apopka parade next year.

Merry Christmas Apopka and Happy Birthday to the King.