Parade Kicks off Christmas in Montrose

Once again Montrose will ring in the holiday season with a Christmas parade of local dignitaries, school groups, high school marching bands, cheerleaders and floats filled with boisterous employees and owners of local businesses.

And this year, the festivities will begin hours earlier than usual, with a Santa's Village.

Saturday's event, which will wend down the center of the Montrose Shopping Park, will be the 28th Montrose-Glendale Christmas Parade. The event was originally created by Frank Roberts, a longtime Montrose business owner who wanted to bring people into the commercial area to shop.

Today, the parade is one of the biggest events of the year, attracting thousands who crowd the sidewalks of Honolulu Avenue, setting out chairs in the morning to save their prized spots. Realizing that not everyone has the time or temperament to set out lawn chairs before noon, parade organizers this year are setting up bleachers and selling reserved seating.

"We thought it would be nice to give reserved seating where people don't have to hassle to get a good spot," said parade committee member Stephanie Mines, owner of Grizzly's-The Creative Source. "Also, the parade will be coming directly in front of them. There won't be anybody seated in front of them, so it will be great seating to see the parade."

The bleachers will be set up at the intersection of Orangedale and Honolulu avenues, where the parade begins. Tickets are $25 for a seat, or $35 for reserved seating and a boxed dinner of barbecued tri tip steak chicken. Tickets for kids are $25 and include a hamburger or hot dog meal. Reservations will be taken through today, Friday, and any remaining seats will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis on Saturday. As of Monday morning, nearly 50 seats had already been sold, Mines said. "We're getting more calls. People are starting to kick into the spirit of the parade," she said.

The Santa's Village will be set up across the street from the bleachers, in the city parking lot. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. there will be food, games, rides and face-painting. Santa will be available for photos from noon until 3 p.m.