Southside Church, organizer of the Brownwood Reunion Celebration Parade held this past Saturday announced the “Feels Like Home” Grand Parade entry winners. Cash prizes were awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place entries in the parade.
The theme of this year’s parade was “Lights, Camera, Action” and 47 entries were featured consisting of floats, classic cars, performers, and marching bands. Winning entries were chosen by a panel of judges:
1st Place – Kids Inc. (pictured at top)
2nd Place – Cub Scout Pack 14
3rd Place – Oakridge Manner
Approximately 28 volunteers helped organize and work this year’s parade which was organized by Southside Church.
Eric Evans of Southside Church stated that the parade went very well this year, which was the group’s third year in organizing the Reunion parade.
“The people participating are really having a lot of fun,” said Evans. “It’s a lot of work but worth it when you see the joy on the kids’ faces.”
He was pleased at the turnout of organizations and groups that participated in the parade.
“I’m excited that several organizations went above and beyond on the theme of the parade,” said Evans. He stated that he enjoyed seeing the Kids Inc. float and their use of popcorn as well as the cub scouts which had so much parent involvement and their theme of race cars. Evans stated, it was “pretty cool.”
Oak ridge Manor was last year’s parade winner and Evans was glad to see them back as an entry, explaining that they always have a good entry, but especially due to the fact that just getting the residents out to the parade takes a lot of effort.
Evans stated that the parade has approximately the 700-800 individual participants and managing traffic flow of participants and traffic hazards is sometimes challenging, but with the help of City of Brownwood Director of Public Works David Harris and his crews, everything went well.
“The City of Brownwood, David Harris and his crews, they go out of their way to make sure people aren’t going through barriers. They put in a lot of time,” Evans said. “The thing I get most nervous about in organizing parades is the traffic hazards. It gets really confusing sometimes when the streets people are using get shut down for special events. Harris and his crews went above and beyond and I really appreciate that.”
Appreciation for the City of Brownwood, Reunion organizers, and Southside Church volunteers was expressed by Evans. He was also thankful for the televising of the parade by KTXS 12, a sponsor of the event.
He explained that Family Service Center gave out 2500 bags of candy and 500 Frisbees, which showed there were at least 3000 people watching the parade and probably more.
“That was a great exposure for Family Services Center,” said Evans. “I thought the crowd was very good.”
Congratulations to the winning entrants, Kids Inc., Cub Scout Pack 14, and Oakridge Manner.
Photos above are contributed by Southside Church. Click here to visit Southside Church’s Facebook page of parade and behind the scenes photos.
Click the photo gallery below for a look at all of the entries in the Brownwood Reunion Celebration Grand Parade. Photos in gallery by Ray and Lisa Tipton.
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