City tradition celebrates 59th year
By the time Santa and Mrs. Claus rounded out the end of the Carolina Carillon Holiday Parade, the viewers who lined Gervais Street Saturday morning had seen a wide range of the city’s businesses and myriad organizations.
Marching bands from four Midlands-area high schools performed Christmas tunes, and they were joined by local dance groups, a group of middle school cheerleaders and Tae Kwon Do students. Interspersed among them were four groups of dogs: Bassett hounds, greyhounds and Boykin Spaniels from pet rescue agencies and a few canine units from the Columbia Police Department.
In all, 96 groups made appearances in the two-hour-long parade.
They were part of what was an impressive show of force from Columbia police, with six distinct groups, including the SWAT team in full gear, and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. A few minutes later, they were followed by ABC Bail Bonding, who handed out toys to kids along the parade route.
It was the 59th iteration of the annual parade, which was broadcast live by WIS before a Statehouse backdrop and coincided with the “Jingle All the Way” 5K run, which passed through USC’s campus.