• Ho, Ho, Horn! Merry Christmas!

Have you ever been in a parade? I hadn't. Until last night that is. I was invited by Wildomar's Boy Scout Troop 332  led by Doug Ames. It was Temecula's:

Santa’s Electric Light Parade 

A view from The Deuce of The Bank restaurant and the crowd in the street.

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A brief recap:

We got there a couple of hours before the parade. The staging area was north of Old Town and that's where the M35A2 Deuce got decorated. The lights were put on by Mike Ames. He's a 'no nonsense' guy. If you want to help, you'd better be ready to follow his directions... he's 17 and he knows what he's doing ☺. But seriously, he had his task down to a science.

This year's theme was Snowman.
We had the smallest snowman, but on the biggest vehicle.

Before we got rolling there was time for some hotdogs and chatting. I met Vic Ramos, a father of one of the scouts, and his two sons. The scouts were very courteous to me, asking if I wanted a hotdog, chips and a drink, though they hadn't met me before.

I also had a chance to meet other members of our community, and council member Bridgette Moore was there too. 
Though she had her duties split between our staging area (38) and the one for Wildomar Elementary (about 20 spots north of us).

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It was a great time out. Chilly, but not cold, perfect weather really... and a great time to get infused with the Christmas Spirit... if you didn't already have it yet.

As we rolled along, it was fun to watch the crowd asking for us to blow the air horn, as they'd give us the international signal for it. Then they'd get the horn's blast and were both delighted and surprised at its girth; the looks on their stunned faces were classic. ☺

(Horns can have 'girth'... right?) 

We were waving, shouting out "Merry Christmas!"  From the young to the old, it was really fun watching the faces in the crowd. 

This looks like a great event to be a spectator at... and I'm thinking that'll be on the books for next year. If you've never been to Temecula's Santa’s Electric Light Parade,  and especially if you have kids or grand kids, I suggest making a date to go next year. Just remember though... first, get there early unless you like traffic jams, and also if you see The Deuce, and ask for the horn... you're going to get the horn. ☺

I had a spectacular view for the parade.