{"id":24461,"date":"2024-12-08T04:39:20","date_gmt":"2024-12-08T11:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/another-year-another-successful-parade-of-lights-in-the-books\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:54:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:54:15","slug":"another-year-another-successful-parade-of-lights-in-the-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/another-year-another-successful-parade-of-lights-in-the-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Another year, another successful Parade of Lights in the books"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Santa
Santa makes his way down Main Street. Cortez Parade of Lights 2024.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The streets of Cortez were bustling well before 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7, the scheduled start time of the 34th annual Parade of Lights in Cortez.<\/p>\n

A booth passed out hot cocoa and samples of mulled wine, people wore light up necklaces and even the dogs were dressed up, bundled in sweaters.<\/p>\n

Sounds of a helicopter overhead added to the excitement in the air, and people eagerly looked above as it flew west on Main Street and prepared to land.<\/p>\n

\u201cSanta!\u201d children shrieked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s Rudolph?\u201d one questioned.<\/p>\n

The man in red made yet another grand entrance this year, via helicopter, to start the parade on a rather jolly note.<\/p>\n

\"The
The helicopter\u2019s grand landing on Main Street in Cortez, to drop off Santa and kick off the 34th annual Parade of Lights. (Courtesy Eddy Lewis)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Santa
Santa makes his way down Main Street. Cortez Parade of Lights 2024. (Matthew Tangeman\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dolores
Dolores Volunteer Fire Department. Cortez Parade of Lights 2024. (Matthew Tangeman\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cortez
Cortez Parade of Lights 2024. (Matthew Tangeman\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The Lewis-Arriola float at the Cortez Parade of Lights 2024. (Matthew Tangeman\/Special to the Journal)<\/span>Matthew Tangeman<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The Montezuma County Injury Prevention Coalition Float at the Cortez Parade of Lights 2024. (Matthew Tangeman\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

As he cruised by on an old Cortez Volunteer Fire Department truck \u2013 the first of many Santa sightings of the evening \u2013 children screamed \u201cSanta\u201c in the same way I imagine young girls called to the Beatles at their shows in the sixties.<\/p>\n

A few kids The Journal<\/em> spoke with agreed that Santa was their favorite part.<\/p>\n

Others, who were a few feet taller, felt the sense of community was most notable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe level of community involvement is astounding in this small town,\u201d said Adam Tess, a community member who had just experienced his very first Parade of Lights.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was the Grinch and many Santas\u2026 how could you not feel part of something bigger?\u201d Tess laughed.<\/p>\n

Carolyn and Jason Witt, two members of the Four Corners Board of Realtors, the group that sponsors the parade, said the whole reason they put it on is to give back to the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an annual opportunity for families to get out and enjoy,\u201d said Carolyn. \u201cThese types of things build community and helps bring people here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s better than to be here at Christmas and involve the community,\u201d Jason added.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvents like this bring everyone together; they put everything aside and enjoy this moment,\u201d Carolyn said.<\/p>\n

This year, there were 63 entries, down from 78 last year.<\/p>\n

Floats were flashing with lights, both the Christmas kind and the emergency response vehicle kind.<\/p>\n

Wheels were covered to look like giant peppermints, and one car had even swapped out its windshield wipers for candy canes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was wonderful,\u201d said Andrew Forsyth, a seventh grade student who had walked in the parade playing his clarinet with his sister Nathaniel, a sixth grader.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole thing was my favorite,\u201d Andrew said.<\/p>\n

Plus, the walking kept them warm, he said.<\/p>\n

Another community member named Jarod Whitecotton had walked in the parade with his decorated remote control cars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m addicted to remote control cars,\u201d Whitecotton said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t his first Parade of Lights, and he does it because people seem to love it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the kids- just everyone we go by, they\u2019re screaming and yelling,\u201d said Whitecotton. \u201cAnd my two daughters love it; kids are just super into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the remote control cars were no Santa, they were certainly a hit with the kids.<\/p>\n

Mid-parade, The Journal<\/em> was able to ask one of the many Grinches \u2013 this one was on a four wheeler \u2013 whether he was here to steal Christmas.<\/p>\n

He shook his head yes, and said, \u201cand kids,\u201d and rode off into the night.<\/p>\n

The rest of the parade passed on by, with holiday music and Merry Christmas wishes, too. There were tractors and light up reindeer and a real live horse with an angel figure standing on its back. Even Arby\u2019s had a float.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it felt a lot shorter this year,\u201d said Maddisyn Morris, one of the judges. \u201cThere were a lot more extravagant floats this year, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI only gave out three 5\u2019s,\u201d said Jerry Sam, another judge.<\/p>\n

\u201cTough critic!\u201d joked Michelle Morris, a co-chairperson who helped organize the parade.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really fun to see the little kids out with their families,\u201d said Joyce Humiston, a judge.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople from everywhere come out, from Mancos and Dolores too,\u201d Maddisyn said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd their Christmas outfits are great. There was a whole family dressed as Santa,\u201d Michelle said.<\/p>\n

Judges were meant to judge on lights, of course, and the parade\u2019s theme, which was The Gift of Christmas this year.<\/p>\n

Parade of Lights results<\/div>\n

Commercial Category<\/strong><\/p>\n

First: Ute Mountain Casino and Hotel<\/div>\n
Second: Body by Design<\/div>\n
Third: R&B Oilfield Services<\/div>\n

Nonprofit category<\/strong><\/p>\n

First: Lewis Arriola PTO<\/div>\n
Second: Cayac Cortez Area Youth Activity<\/div>\n
Third: Girl Scouts of Colorado Unit 206<\/div>\n

Other category<\/strong><\/p>\n

First: Montezuma- Cortez High School Band<\/div>\n
Second: Montezuma County 4-H<\/div>\n
Third: Community Emergency Response Team<\/div>\n

The judges wanted to note an honorable mention to the Dolores Southern Baptist Church Float, and the Four Corners Board of Realtors gives out small cash prizes to each of the winners.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Judges
Judges and volunteers at the Cortez Parade of Lights 2024. (From left to right: Autumn Taft, Carolyn Witt, Maddisyn Morris, Terry Cox, Jerry Sam, Joyce Humiston, Barbara Richhart) (Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

65 entries this year<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-24461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24461"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78538,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24461\/revisions\/78538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24461"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=24461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}