Gingerbread Houses
Pages 6-7
Christmas Parade
Pages 14-15
Volume 10, Number 36 • 28 Pages
DECEMBER 20,2007
704-872-1200 • editor@iredellcitizen.com
Published Weekly in the Crossroads of the Carolinas
Statesville, NC 28677 • 50C
Neil Furr/CITIZEN
Neil Furr
IREDELL CITIZEN
The Jaycees Statesville Christmas Parade was 30 minutes
away but hawkers were already rumbling their gaudy, top
heavy carts up and down Center Street. Their hottest item, it
seemed, was SpongeBob Square Pants as Santa Claus.
In my three and a third decades in Statesville, this was
possibly the best weather I had been granted for shooting
pictures at any parade. A thin cloud cover, diffusing the
sunlight and keeping harsh shadows off faces, did not overly
darken the streets. And, because it was relatively warm, kids
were out in droves.
Still, after hundreds of Dogwood, Fourth of July, Halloween,
Homecoming, Easter and Christmas Parades, I was having
trouble generating enough energy for a two-hour event.
When floats, blaring fire trucks, rescue vehicles, marching
bands and beauty queens began to stream by at last, I began
to long for Santa Claus ... but not because 1 had a fondness
for elderly elves or wanted to place a last minute order. No, Santa
meant the culmination, the end of yet another protracted parade.
But then, from about 50 feet, I saw the face of four-and a
half-month-old Davarie Grimes in the window of an' SUV
sponsored by Faith Child Care and Development Center.
His huge peepers, wider than saucers, were scanning a great
spectacle - the most monumental wonder Davarie had ever witnessed.
As he absorbed Statesville’s gathered energy, he beamed
it right back to me and I had no further trouble seeing the
parade and Christmas though a child's eyes.