Some Obvious Winners in Parade Contest 2014…some not so Obvious
I think it is well noted that the December 7th Lynchburg Christmas & Holiday Parade was a big hit for 2014, but for the Parade Judges there were some obvious winners and some not so obvious winners.
Many might not know but one of the reasons Monument Terrace is lite up for the parade is not just for the MC’s but for the parade [entry] judges. “This year was very difficult because it was such an amazing, well-thought out group of entries, but someone has to be a winner,” said one judge. The winners are based on the following categories: Overall Interpretation of the Theme (A Season of Lights and Laughter), Overall Artistic Style, and Overall Performance.
Marching Band winners – (1st Place) EC GLASS High School (2nd Place) Heritage High School
Walkers: (both first time entry’s for this parade) – (1st Place) Monacan Indian Nation, Amherst VA: Wonderful tribal dancers in full authentic costumes, wonderful performance, stopped every few blocks to entertain spectators, and (2nd Place) New Horizons Equine, Phenix VA: Large group of well trained horses, lit and decorated for the event, dogs and walkers too, amazing first time entry for this parade.
Vehicles (no floats attached): (1st Place) Virginia Select Auto, Amherst VA Creatively filled interior of vehicles with lights, blow-ups and stunning decorations, and (2nd Place) Lynch’s Landing Trolley, a regular at the parade, but was beautifully decorated, carrying Beautiful Miss Lynchburg, Stephanie Szkalak.
Floats: 3 winners – (1st Place) Caterpillar Club House & Stormtroopers with Purpose – Star Wars Christmas Float with Real Star Wars Characters in Christmas Boxes. (2nd Place) Lynchburg Elite Dance, Gorgeous Oversized Dance Float on a semi-truck with lights, dancers, elves. (3rd Place) Jelly Stone National Park, Yogi Bear, Ranger & Friends: Pleasantly lit natural float, wonderful characters of the park – entertained the judge with the national dance craze “the Wobble”! “Truly adding ‘laughter’ part to the event hands down” said one judge.
Notable Mentions:
Retail Merchants Float “Be a Star in your Community, BUY LOCAL”, Elvis Tribute Artist, Taylor Rodriguez from Bedford. Funny note: Many in the crowd thought he was lip sinking, though he was NOT. Taylor has performed for many organizations, rescue squads, adult care centers, homes for the disabled, various charity events and in 2013, at the age of 15, he performed at Graceland.
Garry Viar and Salon V of Acorn Hill Spa / “Miss Virginia Float”. Lovely Float with lights and filled with beautiful people including Miss Virginia, Courtney Garrett. Since Garry Viar and Salon V cater to the small, more intimate weddings and are a one-stop wedding planning business, they tried to capture this beauty in their float.
There were so many entertaining and heartfelt floats this year. We hope to have a gallery of more pictures on the parade website later this week. Many are coming in on the Parade Facebook Page, so keep checking back. The event was successfully streamed LIVE during the parade; however, a recording was not secured. If the community has video and would like to share it, RMA would appreciate any submission. We would be most grateful and it would be wonderful Christmas gift for us.
Email RMA Parade Chairman, Laurie Gullusico at Laurie@LynchburgRMA.com or call the RMA office at (434) 528-1732.
Visit www.LynchburgChristmasparade.com / www.LynchburgRMA.com