Sisters parades into the holiday season

Though the weather outside was frightful, the 35th annual Sisters Christmas Parade was delightful, marching into the prime part of the holiday season on Saturday, with sing-along carols echoing down Hood Avenue under silver-grey skies.

Guests, residents and Thanksgiving weekend relatives warmed themselves with coffee and cocoa, sitting in prime spots on the Sisters Coffee Company porch, tucked under tarps and taking cover from a drizzling rain on minivan tailgates. Parade-lovers didn't seem to mind and eagerly awaited the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce's yearly yuletide kickoff extravaganza with video cameras and cell phones poised to capture the festivities beneath a colorful canopy of umbrellas.

Stu Ehr came down to watch with his two German Shepherds, Helga and Ika, and joined the rest of the dog enthusiasts bringing their pets along to ingest some seasonal cheer.

"We love the parade," he said. "It's great to see the crowd out today, a lot smaller than usual due to the rain. It's always a lot of fun for everybody who lives here and visiting and is the very definition of small town. I hope folks get a chance to stick around later to 'shop small.'"

The procession arrived with the usual festive floats and fire engines blaring sirens, children waving from decorated tractors and trucks, mounted equestrian groups, rescue greyhounds in reindeer antlers, tinseled alpacas and mountain goats draped in Christmas fur trim.

Von Uden, age 9, a third-grader at Sisters Elementary School, sat in the back of his grandmother's parked vehicle and waved to passing parade participants.

"This is my first Sisters parade and I hope I get to see more llamas," he said. "My grandpa, Wendell Halterman, is a veteran and he's in the parade with the rest of his war friends. Oh, and I want to see Santa, too."

As jolly old Saint Nicholas finally arrived riding atop Chafin Farm's holiday wagon drawn by a regal Belgian draft team, a chilly wet breeze whisked down the street. Sitting under the eaves, Sandi Casper perhaps summed up what everyone else was thinking as she rose to leave with her husband, Bob:

"Okay. I'm ready for some turkey soup."