School marching bands, an Olympic Champion, celebrity chefs and Jolly Old St. Nicholas helped usher in the holidays on Saturday at the 53rd annual Wilmington Jaycees Christmas Parade.
The colorful parade included newly-elected joyous legislators like Congresswoman-elect Lisa Blunt Rochester, Parade Grand Marshall and Olympic Gold Medalist Anthuan Maybank, and Newark’s Chef Robbie Jester (atop a float with a very cute red-nosed reindeer) who Beat Bobby Flay on The Food Network in July, 2016. Again this year the parade featured a local crowd-favorite: Wally the Workzone Warrior.
The crowds packed Market Street with hundreds of children hoping to catch a bird’s eye view of Santa aboard his sleigh, the Cab Calloway Marching Band and the cast of the Nutcracker from the Wilmington Ballet Academy of the Dance. The parade is the official kick-off to Small Business Saturday.
Photos contributed by various parade attendees.
