Community gathers downtown for annual Parade of Lights celebration

A crowd of Vermillion community members young and old, including USD students and faculty, gathered downtown Dec. 5 to witness this year’s Parade of Lights.

The parade consisted of about a dozen floats decorated in Christmas lights and included police cruisers and a horse-pulled wagon.

One of the most eye-catching floats was a fire truck which carried Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus.

After the parade, Santa ascended to a stage on The Platz across the street from Cafe Brule and gave a brief speech, followed by caroling by USD’s Chamber Choir. After the speech, Santa led a countdown and lit the town’s large Christmas tree.

Janet Davison, a Media & Journalism lecturer at USD, said she enjoyed this year’s parade.

“Well, I think it was nice — it’s awfully short is the only observation I would make that’s negative — but I think it’s really fun. It was nice to see everybody here, I think we had a really good crowd, and the weather’s terrific, and gosh, you know you couldn’t ask for much more,” Davison said.

Community member Teramie Hill, who brought her children, was also in good spirits during the parade.

“I thought it was a beautiful parade and the kids are really excited to see Santa and Mrs. Claus,” she said.

A group of USD students found the parade charming.

“I thought it was wonderful, because I didn’t even know we had a Parade of Lights,” sophomore Dara Charry said.

Fellow sophomore Paige Wright said she found the parade to be “magical. So magical, I believe!”

Santa Claus shared in their enthusiasm, saying afterward, “It was fantastic — I didn’t get to bring my reindeer, but that fire truck does a good job.”