I understand one of my Christmas wishes became reality. That was the wish for the Jimmy Keith Store float in the Wake Forest Christmas Parade.
But I was wrong in almost all details; the truth is much more fun.
The handmade float with the saxophone player and other musicians was in parade this year – and has been for 25 years, ever since Delmar Atkinson and his wife moved into a house on Thompson Mill Road near the Jimmy Keith Store back in 1989.
“They used to sponsor us,” Atkinson said of the store, but illness and road changes and closures means the store is a shadow of its former vibrant self.
Atkinson has been playing the sax every year, but the musicians do change. He said a group of Thompson Mill neighbors get together a couple nights before the parade to design and create the float each year. “It helps kick off the season,” he said.
This year the theme was “Island of Misfit Toys” from the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movie. Kenny Knox played the upright bass and Atkinson’s sister, Luci Spivey, played the accordion. Her husband, Charlie, was the Charlie in the Box from the movie.
Atkinson loves parades and has been part of the Swansboro Christmas flotilla on the Inland Waterway for years. This year he saw that there was a big prize in Wrightsville Beach so he and a crew entered.
“We were a giant sea turtle and we won $5,000 and Best in Show,” he said. You can see a picture of the giant sea turtle at http://www.ncholidayflotilla.org/.
My apologies for not knowing that Atkinson and his friends and family have been creating fun and memories in the Wake Forest Christmas Parade for 25 years.
As the crowds grew larger and the traffic heavier, as our grandchildren had other commitments and as I grew older, I stopped going to the parade. Next year I’ll try to drive up early, meet a friend, have lunch and find a seat on the curb with a folding chair since I know Atkinson and his crew will be there too.
