Holiday parade draws crowd 10,000 enjoy Bangor festivities

BANGOR – No snow was falling Saturday, which was a good thing because with all the people lining the streets downtown there was no room for it on the ground.

Police estimate that as many as 10,000 people – a number usually associated with the Fourth of July fireworks – showed up to enjoy the Festival of Lights parade and activities.

The streets were lined with people when the parade started at dusk. The procession ran along Main, Central, Harlow and Exchange streets. On one side of Main Street where there were few cars in the parking lane, crowds sitting and standing were so thick they covered the area from the sidewalk to the travel lane of the road. The crowd along the travel lane retreated only briefly when three firetrucks made an impromptu trip along the parade route, sirens screaming as they responded to a call 20 minutes before the start of the actual parade.

Some people came equipped with their own chairs, while some children used their parents’ shoulders for a little extra altitude to get a look at the floats, marching bands and motorcycles. People bunched up in the windows of upper stories of downtown buildings to watch the event unfold outside.

Traditional Nativity and snow scenes on the floats were joined by nontraditional groups, including a creative twist on the parade theme of “Peace on Earth.” Representatives of Penobscot Pediatrics dressed as large, green peas and carried signs proclaiming “Make Peas not War” or displaying the word “Peas” with a peace symbol beneath it.

The roar of about a dozen Harley-Davidson motorcycles, ridden by members of the Bangor chapter of the Harley Owners Group, shared the lineup with a marching band from Madawaska High School that played a medley of Christmas songs, including “The Little Drummer Boy.”

At the Intown Internet Cafe, business was brisk before the start of the parade, and yet, despite the much larger crowd this year, sales were down from last year, said owner Steve Stimpson. Last year the cafe went through 28 gallons of milk as customers slurped up homemade hot chocolate and coffee. The shop used only 19 gallons this year, probably a result of the warmer weather and increased competition downtown, Stimpson said.

Outside, people like Bob Guerrette, who watched his daughter Aimee help carry the lead banner in the parade, were grateful for the warm weather. Aimee beamed -she wore a red Santa’s hat and displayed lit Christmas lights entwined around her.

Thoughts of last year’s low temperatures may have given the Guerrettes shivers.

“It’s great that it wasn’t below zero,” said Bob Guerrette who was impressed with how people were getting into the spirit of the holidays. People in the parade most likely appreciated the comfortable temperatures. Last year, he said, “you could tell people didn’t enjoy being in the parade.”

This year parade participants danced, sang and smiled broadly as they waved to onlookers.