Matthew Burnette, Staff Writer

Despite a cold wind and occasional rain and sleet falling, attendees lined the streets from Hwy 55 all the way to the square on Nov. 29 to watch the annual Manchester Christmas Parade and start the holiday season off with a bang.

The parade route stretched from Raider Academy and down part of Hillsboro Blvd before making its way to Main Street.

While Manchester Mayor Joey Hobbs noted that he enjoys the parade as a whole, he has a soft spot for the finale.

“Personally, I like Santa at the end. I mean it’s just nice, the whole parade in general this year. We have over 100 floats which is a large number for us. I think last year we were in the mid-80s,” he said. “And turning it into more than just a parade, we’re trying to attract more people to downtown for the businesses. We have food trucks this year. We have Santa over in City Hall that is doing photos with kids for free afterwards.”

Hobbs said that both the parade and the surrounding festivities on Saturday were about bringing the community together and putting on an event to kick off the holiday season.

“This year we’ve done more lights on different buildings that are city buildings. We’re going to light the courthouse and the tree,” he explained. “It’s actually an honor to give folks like Chief Sipe, our Grand Marshal this year who’s retiring after 43 years of service. Last year we did Mark Reed who had 30 plus years with the fire department and retired.”

“It’s a good opportunity,” added Hobbs. “We have a good crowd. We had a little bit of weather move through that we didn’t expect, but overall, it’s a chance for us all come together and kickoff the holiday season.”

Chief Sipe explained that he was both very surprised and very honored when he learned that he and his wife Tina were named Grand Marshals for the parade.

“Having a servant’s heart for our community and stuff and then having this honor after 43 years of service in the police department, it’s a grand honor,” he said. “That’s all I can say. I appreciate the City and all the residents of Manchester and having the opportunity to serve them and be part of our community.”

Sipe enthused after the parade that his experience as Grand Marshal was “great.”

“We got a little bit of wind, and I think some snow and sleet too it seems like, but it was great,” he said. “We had thrown out a bunch of candy as well, so it was great getting to see the kids participate in that.”

Westwood Elementary School Resource Officer Charlie Taylor served as the announcer for the parade. He explained that he got recruited after participating in another annual Manchester event.

“I did the Safe on the Square costume contest and evidently the mayor liked it, and I got my assignment for the parade per the mayor’s request that I do this,” he recalled. “It was great.”

Taylor said his favorite part of the experience at the parade was the kids in attendance and participating in the parade.

“I’m the SRO at Westwood and the kids are everything, so that’s the best part of it, and good floats,” he said. “There were good floats this year.”

The opportunity to have some fun was also a selling point for Taylor who said he would gladly return to the parade next year if asked.

“I love this,” he said. “I can act like an idiot for anyone, and I think the more they have fun, the better.”

In addition to several food trucks that were in attendance at the parade, the Coffee County Red Raider Band Boosters also sold hot chocolate for the second year to raise money for the group.

Kayla Miller, a band booster member, said she enjoyed seeing the results of a community coming together.

“We love, number 1, seeing our kids march and the hard work that they’ve put in throughout the whole year,” she said. “We’re really sad that we’re going to miss them this year because they’re not going to march, but just seeing the community come together and be able to support all of us and one another is great.”

The boosters had a great turnout for their first year last year which is why they returned for a second year.

“We have two booths this year just trying to see what we can do for our kids,” said Miller.

There was also a contest held for Best Float in both the Large Float (over 20 ft.) and Small Float (20 ft. and under) categories.

First place in the Small Float contest went to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Heritage Group.

Office Manager Trinity Carrillo explained that this year was Better Homes and Gardens return to the parade after a number of years and that the execution of the float was a “whole team effort.”

“We had a whole meeting, and everyone shared their ideas and participated in it,” she said.

The Better Homes and Garden float featured a play on the Small Town Christmas with the real estate office’s storefront next to a festive candy shop.

Carrillo noted that she was proud of their team first and foremost for coming together to make the float happen.

“They worked so hard on it, but to be honest, we kind of just started a few weeks ago… but everyone put in so much time and effort and came together in just a few weeks and put together really just a beautiful float,” she explained. “I was just really so proud of the team and the office.”

First place in the Large Float contest went to Coffee County Middle School Cheerleading for their float featuring various storefronts in Manchester, and Owen’s Provisions & Apparel LLC also took home a prize for Best Decorated Shop Window.

Second and third in the Small Float category went to Manchester Wal-Mart and CCCHS Red Raider Cheer, respectively, and Hatmaker Homes scored second place in Large Float and Sherrill’s Pest Control won third place honors.