73 Groups Fall in Step for 3rd Annual Parade

Santa Claus donned a sombrero Sunday and led more than 50 young folk dancers down C Street to perform in Oxnard’s third annual Hometown Holiday Parade.

The dancers, from the Inlaketch Ballet Folklorico school in Oxnard, were among a record 73 groups to enter the hourlong parade this year. That’s up from nearly 60 in 1996.

Other entrants included an antique tractor club, players from the Pacific Suns minor league baseball team, and mariachi and marching bands that blasted tunes ranging from “Jingle Bells” to “The Macarena.”

“It represents a good cross-section of the community,” said Assemblyman Nao Takasugi (R-Oxnard), who has participated in the parade every year. “Here I think you see just about every imaginable entry. It’s got that hometown flavor.”

Originally scheduled Dec. 6, the parade was postponed because of rain that day. Downtown Parade Committee member Karin Speights said 19 entrants dropped out because of the date change.

“This parade encourages community pride, community spirit,” Speights said. “We wanted to make it bigger and better each year.”

Despite this year’s weather setback, the parade has more than doubled in size since its first year. Speights said she expects it to keep growing.

Lifelong Oxnard resident Darla Glass, 32, said she remembers going to the city’s annual Christmas parade when she was a child.

Watching those parades made her proud of her community, she said.

Hoping to pass on that pride to her 3-year-old daughter, Kimberly, she arrived early to secure a prime viewing spot for the toddler.

“This is her first parade,” Glass said as she squeezed onto the crowded curb with her husband, niece and nephew. “She’s so thrilled.”

As Santa Claus strolled by, Kimberly’s eyes lit up. But it was Geoffrey the giraffe, mascot of a national toy store chain and one of the parade’s four grand marshals, that drew the biggest grin.

That’s all right for now, Glass said. The lessons about civic pride will come later.

“It’s good for kids to learn to participate in the community,” she said. “That’s the only way you keep things going.”