As the Floats Go By…

The Belmont Shore Christmas Parade was held on Saturday, December 5th. It has been held on Second Street by the Belmont Shore Business Association. The parade has been held every year for 33 years. It began at 6:00 PM and ended at 9:00 PM.
Second Street was closed off from Livingston Avenue to Bay Shore Avenue to make room for this event. In addition, all North/South Streets from Quincy Avenue to Claremont Avenue were closed on the immediate streets and alleyways to Second Street. Thousands attended the event.
Sophomore Isabel Olson said, “The parade was very fun this year. There were about five old fire trucks that went through-it got to the point where I was sure some of them were coming back around.”
Various organizations had floats in this parade. Some notable floats included the US Coast Guard’s float, which included a giant panda riding in a boat, and the Long Beach Fire Department’s float, which was a rolling house filled with smoke. And of course, the parade ended with Santa Clause riding in a fire truck.
The parade featured over a dozen marching bands, including Long Beach Poly’s marching band, directed by Chris Stevens.
This year, the dispensing of silly string by street vendors at the parade was prohibited. Apparently establishments on Second Street had been having problems in previous years with silly string vandalizing their buildings.
There were reports by those who attended the parade of a strange man dressed as Santa Clause walking among the spectators. Purportedly, this man appeared drunk or angry, and shouted profanity at children who approached him. The identity of this man remains unknown.
The parade was sponsored by a number of organizations, including the Port of Long Beach and Don Knabe.