Lower Burrell celebrated Christmas with its fourth annual parade on Saturday, a week later than originally planned.
While the parade is held at night when lights shine more brightly, the snow on Dec. 13, instead of contributing to the atmosphere, forced its cancellation and rescheduling, Mayor Chris Fabry said.
The late decision to cancel on Dec. 13 was made for safety reasons as participants were pulling out of the parade because of the weather, and fire departments from surrounding areas that would have participated were staying closer to home, he said.
Rich Lang, deputy chief and vice president at the Kinloch fire department, was the driving force behind starting the parade in 2022, brought about by residents’ desire for a Christmas activity.
While this year’s parade was initially not going to be rescheduled, it was again residents’ requests that it still be held that lead to that happening, Lang said.
The delay did bring with it better, and warmer, weather.
“I’m glad we were able to get it rescheduled,” Lang said. “I want to thank everyone for coming out and continuing their support of the parade.”
The rescheduling was happy news to parade spectators and participants alike.
Not having it “would have been sad,” said Amanda Osiecki, of Lower Burrell, who came to watch with her daughter, sister-in-law and nieces. “It’s something that we all look forward to.”
“It would have been pretty last Saturday with the snow,” she said. “It would have been freezing, but we would’ve still come.”
Ben Hank, owner of Your Neighborhood Mechanic, and his wife, Amanda, made a float for the parade. He was among those who rallied for it to be rescheduled.
“This is all for the kids — anything to get a smile on their faces,” he said.
The parade’s start was moved up an hour, from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m. It began at the former Stewart Elementary School and ended near the Hillcrest Shopping Center.
It was originally planned to end at Bon Air Elementary. However, activities that were going to be held at Bon Air after the parade on its original date could not be rescheduled, Fabry said.
With only the first parade held during the day, this year marked the third that was held in the evening.
“The response from the community was overwhelming. It’s so much cooler to see the Christmas lights at night,” Fabry said. “It was a much nicer atmosphere for everybody.”
