In Apex, the holiday season officially kicks off with not one, but two parades. Like two sides of the same coin, these parades share some similarities—like drawing crowds and always occurring on the first Saturday in December—but you would never mistake one for the other. The most important trait they share, however, is their unabashed celebration of the season.
Apex Rotary Club Christmas Parade
The Apex Rotary Club Christmas parade’s inaugural run was back in 1957. For its first 50 years or so, it was organized by the Apex Jaycees. They eventually turned it over to the Apex Rotary Club who continues to manage it today.
Wade Baker and Pat Helton’s father owned a dry cleaner on Salem Street. In this sense, downtown Apex was their home.
“We grew up on Salem Street, as did our children. Most of the early parades were in the afternoon. Not sure why or when it changed but it could have had something to do with the fact that the floats were used in other parades, and they would go immediately from one to the other,” Helton said.
In the early years, according to Helton, all of the ladies who rode on the floats wore evening gowns and fur coats. It was an honor to be selected to ride on a float sponsored by a local business. The floats were pulled by tractors, and bands from all over the state would march in the parade. In addition to bands, the parade consisted of the area beauty queens, town officials, floats, scout troops, clowns and farm animals.
Friendship Christmas Parade
The original Friendship Christmas parade was the brainchild of Larry “Bones” Sears and his father, Bob Sears; Lloyd Skidmore, who was an eccentric local artist; Janet McCullen; Anna Marie Nash; Joyce Goldston; Deborah Judd; and Earle and Francis Alley. (Larry “Bones” Sears, as I learned, owned the store on Old US1 that was lost when Vicious Fishes took over the property.) If the Rotary Club parade celebrates the city, Friendship’s parade is a tribute to the surrounding country. In its first year in 1980, the parade was an impromptu grassroots event that was more or less open to anyone.
“Instead of watching a parade, you could be in it,” Sears said.
On Salem Street…
Families came early, perhaps in anticipation of the hawkers who navigated the street while they sold their wares which included cotton candy and toys.
Frances Goodwin Holt, another long-time resident of Apex, remembers how decked out Salem Street was during the holiday season.
“It was extremely exciting for my sisters and me to go to Apex at Christmas time. I remember that the stores were beautifully decorated, typically with fresh greens and red ribbons. Downtown Salem Street was lined with same-sized, freshly cut fir trees with colorful lights, powered by overhead power lines,” Holt shared.
Baker and Helton reminisced about the days when horses were more common in the parade.
“Mr. Sam Stewart and some of his family would always have their beautiful horses in the parade. At this one time, one of the horses got spooked. He began rearing up and sparks flew when his hooves hit the pavement. All of this started happening about the time he got to where our grandmother was sitting in her chair. My brother and my dad ran and picked Grandmama up, chair and all, and ran back toward the building with her. She didn’t know why or what they were doing but was glad they had thought so quickly,” they said.
The downtown parade evolved much like the town. In the early days, it was simpler with not as much glitz or glamour. It reflected a small hometown parade. There were more floats and it wasn’t as fancy as it is today but, according to Christine Hilt and Karen Byrd, two long-time Rotary Club and Jaycee parade stalwarts, there was still a lot of magic.
In Friendship…
Duke Ray and his wife, Elizabeth, moved to Friendship in 1995. Ray remembers the first time he saw the Friendship parade.
“I was sitting in a deer stand across the road and saw the parade coming. It traveled down my driveway, which didn’t seem right,” Ray remembered with a smile.
He let the parade participants know they were a bit off course.
On Salem Street…
Both Hilt and Byrd shared that today you’ll see rock bands and big rigs and lots of lights. The parade is prettier and more pleasing to the eye, but the small-town feel has been replaced and, as they noted, “There is less of little Johnny.”
Hilt remembers her first experience with the parade.
“I was working in the garden, and it was the first Saturday in December. I heard a commotion and band music. I saw donkeys and goats, horse-drawn carts and kids. It was folksy, just like Apex at the time. Tractors were pulling kids. The parade reflected this old rail town and farming community,” Hilt said.
Fast forward to today, and so much has changed.
“We are no longer a farming town,” Hilt explained. “In the parade, businesses are promoting themselves. There are larger vehicles. The night parade draws a tremendous number of spectators. In the earliest years, spectators along Salem Street were one row deep. Today, spectators crowd both sides of Salem Street and are eight rows deep.”
Hilt noted that it wasn’t so much that they didn’t want the farm animals to march…rather, “We lost the farmers.” The farmers aged out or sold their farms.
Today, the parade’s logistics demand about a six-month lead time with safety the number one priority. Hilt and Byrd both agree, “If the worst that happens is we get chewed out by parade-goers all in the name of safety and holiday fun, then we’ve done our jobs right.”
Organizers had to cap the number of entries this year since they are now running “between 120-130,” which translates to a parade length of nearly three quarters of a mile and a run time of about two hours. In this way, like the town itself, the parade has increased in size and gone from a parade that reflected and celebrated a primarily rural community to one that celebrates a booming urban one.
Since it is the only nighttime parade in the area, more people come to watch. They bring coolers, tents and folding chairs and mark their spot some 24 hours ahead of the start. The parade has become an event.
In Friendship…
Like the Rotary Club parade, Friendship’s parade is also held on the first Saturday in December. It kicks off at “high noon.” Participants line up about 30 minutes before, near the Apex Friendship High School parking lot. The parade’s order is determined on a first-come, first-served basis with just about anyone and anything allowed to march in the parade.
In addition to the Apex High School band, which has been marching in this parade since its inception, you’ll find tractors pulling floats, riding lawnmowers, motorcycles, farm animals, dogs, cats, and pedestrian marchers. You can expect to see strings of holiday lights, marchers dressed in holiday attire, and much more. One year, parade-veteran Ray dressed in tights, a loin cloth, a fur vest and a Santa Claus hat. Another year, Lloyd Skidmore put a float together that, literally, featured household garbage. There were tin cans, empty bottles and plates among other eclectic and atypical adorations on his Andy Warhol-ish float. The norm for this parade is to be the exception; it’s a time when celebrating the season means celebrating each person’s unique perspective, and ultimately, their individuality.
The parade heads down Humie Olive Road towards Old US1. A left turn on Old US1 takes the parade towards Friendship Road, which is where it will end, about 15-20 minutes after it started. Spectators line the route, with some folks traveling from Sanford, Moncure and New Hill to take in the fun. A post-parade celebration/social hour is on the docket again this year, weather permitting.
One year, Santa Claus was flown in via helicopter by Channel 5. For a while, Sears also noted, they used to give out awards for best float, best decorated bicycle, and so on. There even used to be a Ms. Friendship who rode on a float in the parade. That tradition ended with the demolition of Sears’ store. Some local TV personalities did the judging, including the late Larry Stogner from WTVD.
Turning their sights on the 2023 parade, Ray talked about tethering two sleds together along with the possible inclusion of a choir. I’m still unsure if this was said with tongue-in-cheek.
“We might go big this year,” Ray said.
Sears and Ray expect the parade to keep on going well past their involvement. There have been suggestions to join the parade with another community and expand or change the parade, but that doesn’t seem likely anytime soon.
“The Friendship Christmas Parade has a nice ring to it,” Ray said.
With the Apex Rotary Club Christmas Parade and the Friendship Christmas Parade all set for another run in 2023, both sides of the Apex coin appear to be covered. If you want something more sedate, less conventional and a bit irreverent, make the pilgrimage to Apex Friendship High School around 11:45 a.m. at which point you can decide if you’re watching or marching. But, if your preference is “lights, camera and action” coupled with equal helpings of glitz and glamor, head downtown for the 5:00 p.m. Rotary Club Christmas Parade. And, of course, if your tastes run far and wide, you should attend both parades since there is ample time for both. As the song goes, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” and what could be more wonderful than two holiday parades in one day?
