Girls decked out in sequined red dresses twirling glowing batons.
Boys in jester caps riding unicycles.
Dogs donning antlers.
For about 90 minutes yesterday evening, Fourth and Liberty streets were filled with such whimsical images and good cheer at the annual Holiday Parade.
The parade was paired with another Winston-Salem holiday tradition, the lighting of the city's Christmas tree in Corpening Plaza.
The tree-lighting ceremony included musicians and dancers and an appearance from Santa Claus. It culminated with the lighting of the 35-foot tree, which was cut from Rupert Bell Park this year. Along the parade route, people braved temperatures that dipped into the 30s.
Diana Kuwamoto of Kernersville was one of them.
She and three friends positioned their collapsible chairs at the corner of Fourth and Spruce streets about 4 p.m. Kuwamoto's daughter, Kiana, plays saxophone for East Forsyth's marching band, so she is an old hand at sitting through cold temperatures.
"I will use this to remind my daughter how much I love her," said Kuwamoto, who wore long johns, jeans, a heavy coat, hat and gloves and was wrapped in an afghan blanket. She also clinched hand warmers inside her gloves.
Today, Kuwamoto plans to be back in the cold watching her daughter, this time at the Kernersville Christmas Parade.
In some places, the crowd was two- or three-people deep. But many people escaped the cold and watched the procession through the plate-glass windows of downtown restaurants.
The parade's 84 entrants included marching bands, Girl Scout troops, law-enforcement agencies and dance squads. Their show of holiday spirit ranged from a strand of garland on an oil truck to an elaborate float with nutcrackers sponsored by the UNC School of the Arts.
About 30 minutes before the parade was scheduled to start, Junior Hayes of J&S Floats in Hillsborough, was stapling small posters advertising the school's performance of The Nutcracker.
Hayes said that Winston-Salem's parade was one of nine that his company was involved with yesterday. He said that the hectic pace will continue for the next three weeks, which is a good thing.
"This is a hobby. I'm a real-estate agent, so thank God for hobbies," Hayes said. "I'm hungry like everyone else."
Jen and Cliff McElroy said they enjoyed sharing the holiday spirit with other people in their community.
"It's a good time to have camaraderie amongst the people you live and work with and don't even know," Jen McElroy said.
They went to the parade to watch their daughter, Cari, who was with Mount Tabor's color guard. They brought along their two foster children, neither of whom had been to a parade.
In such difficult economic times, Cliff McElroy said that the parade served as a reminder that the holidays don't have to be about money.
"This takes it to the basics of the holiday," Cliff McElroy said. "And it's something that is free, which is good for people who don't have a lot of extra money to spend on gifts. It's good for the community."
■ Lisa O'Donnell can be reached at 727-7420 or at lodonnell@wsjournal.com.
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