There is no doubt the annual Westminster Christmas holiday “Miracle on Main Street” electric parade was a huge success. Although no one at the recent meeting of the Westminster mayor and Common Council would estimate the number of folks who lined Pennsylvania Avenue and Main Street, , few remember a larger crowd.
Mother Nature lent a helping hand by scheduling wonderful weather for the 1 1/2-hour event. Many believe Westminster Director of Recreation and Parks Abby Gruber and her staff have a direct link with the forces above and precisely scheduled the good weather.
This year, Westminster hosted a special international guest. The Estonian ambassador to the U.S., Kristjan Prikk, his wife Liis and their children served as grand marshals of the parade. According to a biographical sketch on the website for the Estonian Embassy in Washington, D.C., this is Prikk’s third diplomatic posting to Washington.
This was the third time an Estonian ambassador has visited Westminster. The first ambassador to visit Westminster was Jüri Luik, who came in the early days of the sister city program. This was Prikk’s third visit to Westminster, as he visited once before when he served as a counselor in the Estonian Embassy.
He also visited on Sept. 30 for an international virtual birthday celebration with Estonian sister city Paide. The event also celebrated Paide’s 731st birthday. It was at that time that Westminster Council President Gregory Pecoraro and Mayor Dr. Mona Becker extended an invitation to the ambassador and his family to participate in the parade.
After the parade, many stayed downtown for the annual lighting of the Christmas tree and the Hanukkah candle led by Becker and the Westminster Municipal Band under director Sandy Miller.
This year the festivities were greatly enhanced by having strings of lights installed in the trees in the historic downtown shopping district. Also adding to the holiday cheer are speakers lining Main Street piping Christmas music throughout downtown.
The Westminster Streets, and Public Works Department teamed-up with Recreation and Parks Department to make sure that Main Street and the City Park Playground were decorated for the holiday season. According to the Recreation and Parks Facebook page, the holiday festivities continue all month. Beginning Dec. 3, “Visit Mr. and Mrs. Claus at Santa’s house located on the Westminster Library Lawn (50 E. Main St.), Saturdays in December (3, 10 and 17.) Before or after your visit embark on a free carriage ride through historic Westminster from noon-4 p.m.
Carriage rides board behind Life is … Pizza (Locust Lane) beginning at noon . All activities are free. Stockings are handed out to the first 25 children who visit each Saturday, plus one stocking will have a $5 FIVE BELOW gift card.
After a decades-long hiatus, the Christmas parade returned Dec. 3, 2005, after several years of planning. The return of the parade was spearheaded by Westminster’s then-director of economic development, the late Stan Ruchlewicz, and the then-Greater Westminster Development Corp. (GWDC) Chair Sam Greenholtz, a longtime resident and Westminster council member from 1985 to 1991.
In 2005, the return of the parade was sponsored by the GWDC and the Downtown Westminster Main Street Program’s Promotions Committee, with additional support from the City of Westminster, Hill Development Group and Max Realty. Greenholtz said then that he had fond memories of Christmas parades in the past.
The earliest account of Westminster distributing presents is found in the American Sentinel on Dec. 25, 1897. Details as to when the Christmas parade in Westminster began or was discontinued were not available — though many recall holiday parades until the early 1960s.
Former Westminster Council President Suzanne Albert said in 2005 that she had childhood memories of “always looking forward to receiving the oranges and candy” handed out after the parade.
As far back as December 1947, other newspaper accounts mention a parade co-chaired by Bud Shaeffer and Walter Hook, which included the Molleville Post of Foreign Wars’ drum corps.
The 1947 parade marched from the Armory on Longwell Avenue to the “The Forks” at Main Street and Pennsylvania Avenue — then considered the center of the city. The community Christmas tree was lit by Mayor Joseph L. Mathias and Christmas carols, led by F. Kale Mathias, were sung by the community. Many parents accompanied the children, and those under 12 received “a box of candy, orange and noisemaker.”
The city’s first “Holiday Electric Parade” featured more 50 electric light floats in December 2009. Much of the hard work for that year’s electric light masquerade parade was done by Kris Kringle’s volunteers Eileen Gist, Lori Graham, who used the flower shop at Dutterer’s on Pennsylvania Avenue for Santa’s parade command center, Lyndi McNulty, Caroline Babylon, and this writer.
Once again Westminster and Carroll County are the best places for the Christmas holidays. No Grinches allowed.
Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster. His Time Flies column appears every Sunday. Email him at kevindayhoff@gmail.com.
