LIFE

Hundreds attend annual Boonton Christmas parade

Leslie Ruse
@LeslieRuseDR

BOONTON A steady rain couldn’t dampen the spirits of the hundreds of parade-goers at the 22nd Annual Boonton Fire Department’s Christmas Parade on Saturday.

Santa waves with his truck loaded with stuffed animals to give out to children during the parade route at the annual Christmas parade on Main Street in Boonton on November 28, 2015.

“Today’s a good time for families and kids,” said Bobby Tullock, owner of Bobby’s News & Gifts. “We’re all about kids. This is just great.”

With families lined up along the sidewalks waiting for the parade to start, Sparky the Fire Dog drove his small red fire engine to a large group of children standing on the curb. Wearing a yellow hat and coat, the mechanical dog entertained everyone as he whizzed around in circles.

“Hey you guys, I saw Santa. He’s right there. He’ll be coming up in a minute,” Sparky said, before circling to head back across the road. “See you guys later.”

Promptly at one o’clock, the parade began with the Boonton Fire Chief leading the way. With its alarm blaring, the chief’s SUV slowly made its way up Main Street towards Santa Land, located at North Main Street by the Senior Building.

Next up were the local dignitaries walking on foot, followed by the grand marshals, the Ladies Auxiliary of the Boonton Fire Department. The Ladies Auxiliary was celebrating their 80th year of caring for firefighters and their community.

Boonton's Harmony Senior Drum Corps marches during the annual Christmas parade on Main Street in Boonton on November 28, 2015.

Groups from the surrounding areas enjoyed riding or walking along the half-hour route, tossing candy to the crowds and waving. Fire departments from Boonton, Boonton Township, Lake Hiawatha, Montville, Mountain Lakes and Parsippany-Troy Hills all made the ride up to Santa Land.

A large contingent of local groups participated, including No Strings A Capella group, the Boonton Historical Society, all dressed in turn-of-the-century clothing, Smokey the Bear and the Forest Fire Service, the Madison Dodgers Marching Band, Boonton United Methodist Church, Eleventh Hour Rescue with dogs hoping to find homes for the holidays, Hamilton Farms, Boy Scout Pack 69 of Rockaway Valley, Boonton Moms Club, Boonton Elks Lodge 1405, Denville String Band, Girl Scouts and Daisy Troops of Boonton, Boonton Kiwanis and First Aid Squads, Harmony Drum Corps, Eagle Martial Arts and the Boonton High School football team.

Children of all ages reach out in hopes of grabbing a stuffed animal thrown from the Santa firetruck during annual Christmas parade on Main Street in Boonton on November 28, 2015.

As the guest of honor, Santa Claus appeared last, riding on a special yellow Boonton Fire Truck along with Mrs. Claus and some of his special helpers.

“Merry Christmas” said Santa Claus, tossing stuffed animals to the children as the truck made its way up to Santa Land.

Sienna Cabalar, 23 months, is not sure how to react when Boonton's Sparky the Fire Dog starts talking to her during annual Christmas parade on Main Street in Boonton on November 28, 2015.

The day was also Small Business Saturday, a chance for the public to "Shop Local" and support the many businesses in their own communities.

“I do special promotions for this day. Starting today, anyone who makes a $20 donation to the Boonton Food Pantry will receive 15 percent off their purchase,” said Francesca Laurenzi, owner of designer resale store Quality Consignments.

“But today is about the parade.”

Tyler Colant, 4, happily hugs his lion that he received from Santa during the annual Christmas parade on Main Street in Boonton on November 28, 2015.

Started on November 27, 2010, Small Business Saturday is always the first Saturday after Thanksgiving and the day after Black Friday. People across the country are encouraged to shop and support their local businesses.

“I always shop local. It’s very important to us to support our locals. We shop here as much as we can. We’re big small shoppers,” said Joy Mazur, of Boonton, who brought along Amos Mandel, 2, to help her make purchases.

“We have a lot of families coming here today so we’re offering classes and programs. We have some great retailers and they have hidden talents that they can show off to everyone on a day like this,” said Chris Manzella, executive director of Boonton Main Street.

Manzella and Boonton Main Street President Patti Bujtas spent the past few days putting together ‘Shop Small’ swag bags filled with coupons and discounts to many of the stores and restaurants in Boonton. The bags were compliments of Matchstick and American Express, the event’s sponsors.

“The retailers put their coupons in, menus and special offers, location map, whatever it was they wanted to put in, we put in," said Manzella. "We did this last year and it was really successful. It’s a green initiative as well. We loved seeing all the bags when people walked around last year so we wanted to do it again this year.”

Bobby Tullock, of Bobby's News & Gifts, will have Elmo and Santa visiting his shop for Small Business Saturday on Main Street in Boonton on November 28, 2015.

Boonton Main Street will host its last “First Friday” event of the year, a “Chocolate Stroll” from 5-9 p.m. on Friday, December 4. The Boonton Kiwanis are also sponsoring horse-drawn carriage rides along Main Street from 6-9 p.m. Cost is $20 per person and all proceeds benefit The Boonton Kiwanis First Aid Squad. Tickets are available at Bobby’s News & Gifts or by calling 973-794-4470.

“For the Chocolate Stroll, we’ve asked retailers to do a promotion having to do with chocolate: chocolate flavored or chocolate colored,” Manzella said. “I think Roma’s (Pizzeria and Restaurant) is even doing a Nutella pizza. It’s an opportunity to mix in the holidays and do some shopping and close out our First Fridays for this year. It’ll be fun.”

Later in the afternoon, Santa Claus rode down to Bobby’s News & Gifts, where he handed candy to children and told them about the “What the Holidays Mean to Me” contest, sponsored by Bobby’s. Prizes include $100, $50 and $25 gift certificates. Youngsters have until Monday, December 14 to enter by dropping off their entries at Bobby’s, 618 Main St. in Boonton.

“Small Business Saturday is just great. American Express has done such a good job with it. People are very educated about it now and they expect it every year,” Tullock said. “They want to know what’s going on. Kudos to American Express because there’s such an awareness about it. It’s just amazing how much they’ve done.”

Staff Writer Leslie Ruse: 973-428-6671; lruse@GannettNJ.com.