‘A piece of small-town Americana’

Moorestown’s 63rd annual holiday parade included all the timeless traditions on Dec. 7.

Under clouds and sun, crowds lined the parade route along Chester Avenue and Kings Highway.

This year’s theme was Holiday Music. String bands, marching bands, community floats and marching groups of various kinds along with fire trucks, emergency vehicles and miniature classic cars all participated.

There were also bagpipers, an appearance by the Aqua and Woodland string bands and the Burlington County Special Services and Moorestown High bands, as well as a Quiet Zone for people with PTSD, hearing aids, Autism, Alzheimer’s, and others who are disturbed by loud noises.

“I think it was a successful experiment that we will repeat in the future,” said Moorestown resident Pete Thorndike.

Thorndike, the Moorestown Lions Club and other organizations and groups in town work effortlessly to put the parade together. This was Thorndike’s 40th year chairing the event and now he’s ready to pass the torch.

“It’ll be seamless, and it’ll be fine, and we’ll do it all over again next year,” Thorndike said.

Boy and girl Scout troops competed for prizes with Girl Scout Troop 27540 led by Colleen Wolfram and Girl Scout Troop 25288 led by Maryellen DeMille and Kathleen MacGhee taking first and second place prizes in the float category. In the marching group category Girl Scout Troop 26173 led by Karen Vidal, Girl Scout Junior Troop 20002 led by Melissa Lestini and Brownie Troop 27049 led by Elena Warker took first, second and third place, respectively.

“As always, I think it’s a fair estimate to say that about a third to half of the people watching this parade were in it themselves as kids, in one manner or another,” Thorndike said.

For pictures, visit the Moorestown Lions’ Facebook page.

“The theory behind (the parade) was to emphasize the fact that Christmas is coming, the holidays are coming, it’s time to pay attention to the merchants in town and do your shopping, and to help the folks out on Main Street and get their holiday sales going,” Thorndike said. “That was the motivation when this parade started back in 1960.”