Small-town pride and characters on display in Strawberry Festival parade

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – “Santa Vern” from Boonville, NY, engages the crowd along Main Street in Albion during the Strawberry Festival parade on Saturday. Santa Vern was a vendor selling kettle corn in the food court.

He took a break from the popcorn to be part of the parade, and zipped along the parade route on his scooter. Santa Vern said he wanted to be part of the parade with a theme, “Here Comes Santa.” He also was part of the celebration after the parade with the unveiling of a bronze statue in honor of the late Charles W. Howard, who ran a Santa School in Albion from 1937 to 1966 and also operated Christmas Park.

Sheryl Watts, owner and artistic designer of Air Raising Events, made a purple eagle costume out of balloons. Ina previous parade she made a strawberry out of balloons.

Strawberry Festival royalty acknowledge the crowd, including King Nick Andrews and Queen Jackie Santiago Garcia.

There were two princesses for the festival: sixth-grader Brooklyn Miens, left, and seventh-grader Ayme Vallejo-Morales.

Kerry Panek and Jim Panek, back left, get a float ready with help from their grandchildren and other family members. They are celebrating 40 years of growing strawberries at Panek’s Pickin’ Patch.

Aubrey Kennedy, 11, of Kent wore the turtle costume in the parade and later for the turtle race along the canal with more than 800 toy turtles. She had some downtime before the parade and played Uno with her brother Auden and their mother Pam. The 50 parade floats and other participants met at the parking lots at Albion High School and the elementary school to get their spots in the parade that last more than an hour.

Neveya Barnes and other Girl Scouts wore Santa hats and beards as part of the float with the North Point Chapel.

The Rochester Scottish Pipes & Drums were among several marching bands in the parade.

Dance Reflections by Miss Heather added a Christmas theme to their routine in honor of the parade theme, “Here Comes Santa.”

Brad Shelp drives a classic convertible in the parade in front of the Mark Time Marchers. Shelp served as the parade’s main coordinator.

The Albion Purple Eagles Marching Band performed their “Jersey Boys” show in front of the home crowd.

Amy Sidari, owner of Gotta Dance by Miss Amy, was an enthusiastic participant in the parade.

The Mighty St. Joe’s Alumni Corps from Le Roy put on an impressive show, especially on Main Street in front of the festival grounds.

The Rotary Coach Pitch team was among several youth sports teams in the parade, tossing candy and treats.

The parade went on despite the Main Street bridge being out of service. The bridge is actually off set as part of a major rehabilitation. Instead of crossing the bridge, the parade route turned left off Main Street to West Bank Street.

Gary Kent drives a John Deere tractor and pulls Santa in a sleigh set on a trailer to close out the parade. Kent wanted Santa to be pulled by a deer. They were on their way to dedicating a new bronze statue for Santa after the parade. The statue is a tribute to the late Charles W. Howard, the founder of a Santa school in Albion.