Belmont Shore parade packs Second Street
By Rebecca Brown
Daily Forty-Niner
Athletes, public officials and classic
cars all converged for Belmont Shore's 17th Annual Christmas parade, attended
by about 50,000 people.
The crowd, estimated by Long Beach Police
officer Dave Christenson, filled all of Second Street's 14 blocks Saturday
night.
"It looks like we have as many people here
as we expected we would," he said.
The parade started at the northern end
of Second Street, with a six-horse drawn stagecoach from Knott's Berry
Farm filled with employees and their families leading the way.
The Cal State Long Beach baseball, tennis
and basketball teams wore black and gold warm-up suits as they rode in
a flatbed trailer decorated with team banners and Christmas lights.
The crowds cheered enthusiastically for
them, and several onlookers shouted, "Go Beach!" and "Long Beach State
rules!"
Parade Marshall and Long Beach Mayor Beverly
O'Neill rolled by in a classic car, as did the majority of her council
members, from corvettes and mustangs to a Ford roadster.
O'Neill's staff drove by later in a classic
fire truck, waving to the crowd.
The Long Beach Fire Department had a clown
troupe, decked out in brightly colored wigs, oversized shoes, face paint
and red rubber noses.
"The troupe has been around for 25 years,
and we raise money for kids with cancer," said fireman Brian Fisk.
Fisk, 29, has been a Long Beach fireman
for the past four years, and spent his evening being pulled behind a miniature
fire truck, riding an oversized skateboard.
The fire department also had a life-sized
version of an antique fire truck in the parade, filled with local Boy Scout
troupes, decked out in their khaki uniforms.
The Banning High School marching band sported
glowing red noses while playing "Hark the Harold Angels Sing."
The friends of the Long Beach animal shelter
had an entourage of dogs on leashes, being led by volunteers.
A tiny terrier assisted one labrador, who
had no hind legs and a miniature replica of a Christmas tree strapped to
his back.
The crowd roared with enthusiasm as the
labrador passed by.
Waitresses from Hooters, a Long Beach
restaurant, rode by in a convertible red Cadillac.
The girls sported tight white T-shirts
and bright orange dolphin shorts despite the cold evening.
Long Beach business owner Mike Sheldrake
said that his Second Street coffeehouse "Polly's" had a surprising lull
in business during the parade.
"Normally, we get busier, but I guess the
fact that we didn't advertise that we would be open affected us," he said. |
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