Christmas Spirit on Parade in Santa Paula

An American flag led the Santa Paula Christmas Parade, and Santa Claus ended it.

An estimated 2,500 people gathered on Main Street Saturday morning for the festive procession, organized by the city’s Optimist Club.

Many of the spectators were families who have been involved with the parade for generations.

Renee VanKalsbeek, a lifelong Santa Paula resident, said she remembers marching as a majorette with the Santa Paula High School band in the 1970s. Saturday, she watched her son Andrew, 9, lead off the parade with his fellow Cub Scouts.

Andrew said he thought the event was “really fun.”

His favorite entry in the parade? “The truck carrying all the Girl Scouts,” Andrew answered without a moment’s hesitation.

Lorraine Huerta, 27, a Santa Paula legal secretary, said she had been coming to the parade with her family for 10 years. “We don’t ever miss it,” she said.

Huerta said Santa Claus was her favorite parade participant.

She was not alone. The red-suited, white-bearded Christmas character easily drew the loudest cheers as he rode down the parade route--not in a sleigh, but in the back of the Santa Paula Fire Department’s Engine No. 1.

In response to a child’s question, Santa said his reindeer were at home, “resting up for the big night.”

It was the first Santa Paula Christmas Parade for volunteer Santa David Mitchell, a Santa Paula resident who works as a foreman at an Oxnard manufacturer of Western belt buckles.

“I just like to see the smiles on the kids’ faces,” Mitchell said.

The parade was an eclectic mixture of vehicles, groups and personalities, sometimes oddly juxtaposed.

Santa Paula Mayor Pro Tem Robin Sullivan and county Supervisor Maggie Kildee were followed immediately by Miss Santa Paula, Donelle Michaud, and Miss Teen Santa Paula, Inez Vargas.

There were horseback riders, including the Arabian Lady, wearing a purple and gold costume and veil, and riding an Arabian horse. The Southern Shady Ladies, riding sidesaddle, were followed by a 7-year-old girl in her first parade, riding a 30-year-old horse.

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There were community organizations. Members of the Santa Paula Moose Lodge sported red-and-white felt elf hats. Also wearing elf hats were the 100 Santa Paula Girl Scouts, Andrew’s favorites, who rode in the parade on the back of a flatbed truck.

One contingent of Shriners came from Santa Paula and another from Oxnard, both zipping down Main Street in one-person antique-style cars so small that the drivers had their knees sticking out the windows.

There were vehicles of all shapes and sizes--a drag-racer, two ambulances, the Latino Pride Car Club, the Ventura County Model A Ford Club and the New Vision Santa Paula Car Club, whose members made their souped-up cars rear in the air like bucking broncos.

The parade also included a bright yellow 1956 Ford station wagon representing Taco Bell, soon to open a branch in Santa Paula. The station wagon stayed a respectful distance away from parade participant Ronald McDonald.

Organizers said one purpose of the parade was to boost holiday shopping traffic for downtown merchants.

One owner of a clothing and electronics store on Main Street credited the parade with boosting the number of shoppers in his store by 60%.

But the parade was no cure-all, he said. “They’re not buying, just looking,” said Jae Kang, owner of Buena Modas.