By Mary O’KEEFE

Another successful Montrose Christmas Parade is now part of history. The parade took place on Saturday and featured cheering crowds and, as is its tradition, over 1,400 people marched down the Honolulu Avenue parade route representing local officials, organizations, businesses and schools.

There were 100 entries total in the parade this year and the parade watchers were there to support them.

“Everyone said the crowd looked like the [largest] ever,” said Cheryl Davis, parade coordinator and member of the Montrose Christmas Parade Assn. “Normally the crowd is a little thin from Rosemont Avenue to Wickham Way but not this year.”

The conservative estimate is anywhere from 18,000 to 20,000 people were in attendance to support the parade along the route.

Even though the Montrose Christmas Parade has continued having a small town feel, it takes a lot of volunteers – and a lot of hours – to make the parade seem effortless. In addition, it takes local sponsors who help finance the annual event.

“In addition to our sponsors and the incredible work by the Glendale Police Dept., I want to thank our incredible all-volunteer parade team. There were a few challenges outside of our control and the parade marshals stepped up and resolved every issue with cool heads, thinking outside the box, and just getting it done,” Davis said. “It’s a privilege to work with this team because they love the community and they love this event.” She added that this year there were 85 student volunteers.

Most of those students came from high schools within Glendale Unified School District. There has been positive feedback for how happy and helpful they all were.

Glendale fire and police departments brought emotional support dogs to the parade to help them acclimate to the crowd, kids, noise, horses and the bands, Davis added.

Santa made two impressive appearances in the parade, first in the Glendale police airship as he flew over the crowd to kick off the parade and then on Glendale Fire Engine 29 at the end of the parade.

“The parade marshals continued the tradition of following Santa on truck 29 in our golf carts at the end of the parade and it was amazing to hear the kids yelling to Santa Claus,” Davis said. “We even got some thank yous from the crowd.”