Friday's Parade
and Fireworks a Resounding Success
Judges Deadlock With a 3-Way Tie for First Place Float
Berlin Parade of Lights Committee
Berlin Daily Sun
November 30, 2011
What a great evening it was in downtown Berlin last Friday night! The wonderful
Mannequins in downtown windows, the bright and cheerful Parade of Lights, all
climaxed by the astounding fireworks!
It takes a lot of volunteers to make this happen and thanks goes out to Theater
North for coordinating the live mannequins in eight downtown storefronts. The
actors created jaw dropping window scenes.
Thanks to mayor and council, the fireworks were brought back this year and
Anderson Pyrotechnics put out a fireworks display second to none. As we heard
many people say at the end of the evening, “Those were the best fireworks!”
All the organizations that took the time to put together floats for the Parade
of Lights are to be commended for their efforts in the planning and preparation.
The Kiwanis Club had an astonishing float to bring Santa and Mrs. Claus to town.
The Chamber of Commerce conceived a great idea with their Chamber Express
Christmas Train and the White Mountain Ridge Runners entered a triple float
depicting snowmobiling. There was a three-way tie between these three floats.
As the judges pondered on who to give the $250 cash prize, they could not pick
one over the other and therefore decided to give the cash prize to the Brown
School elves for the largest number of participants in a group. The cash will go
towards the fundraising effort for the Brown School Playground.
The parade and fireworks this year were sponsored by the Berlin Main Street Program, the Androscoggin Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Kiwanis Club and the city of Berlin.
Editors Note: The three top floats are shown below:
Chamber of Commerce Christmas Train
The Kiwanis Club float with flying reindeer pulling Santa and Mrs. Claus in their sleigh
WMRR Float Part 1 - The
groomer decked out in lights
WMRR Float Part 2 - The
drag with a natural Christmas tree with two big
screen TV sets under it showing snowmobile videos
WMRR Float Part 3 - A
4-place trailer with two new Arctic Cat snowmobiles. One of the
snowmobiles is pulling the Easter Seal Lilly which is on skiis. Fake snow
covers the trailer
and the banner announces the 40th Annual Easter Seals Ride-In on Feb. 3-5, 2012
in Gorham.