{"id":43418,"date":"2021-12-05T03:24:50","date_gmt":"2021-12-05T10:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dashing-through-cortez-in-a-helicopter-santa-surprises-at-parade-of-lights\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:13:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:13:19","slug":"dashing-through-cortez-in-a-helicopter-santa-surprises-at-parade-of-lights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dashing-through-cortez-in-a-helicopter-santa-surprises-at-parade-of-lights\/","title":{"rendered":"Dashing through Cortez in a … helicopter? Santa surprises at Parade of Lights"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Santa
Santa Claus waves to the crowd during the Parade of Lights Saturday in Cortez. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Santa Claus made a surprise appearance in Cortez Saturday, dipping down from the North Pole not in a reindeer-powered sleigh, but in a helicopter stirring flurries of dust.<\/p>\n

The grand entrance was met with cheers from onlookers, and kick-started this year\u2019s Four Corners Board of Realtors Parade of Lights, which saw twice as many floats as last year.<\/p>\n

The Classic AM helicopter acting as Santa\u2019s sleigh delivered the embodiment of Christmas himself to the corner of Maple and Main streets downtown.<\/p>\n

Immediately after Santa\u2019s early visit to the corner of Southwest Colorado, 65 floats began gliding through downtown at 6 p.m, dousing the hundreds of spectators lining Main Street in rays of shimmering holiday light and sound.<\/p>\n

\"Santa\u2019s
Santa\u2019s helpers got to work during the Parade of Lights in Cortez Saturday. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Many
Many businesses put together festive floats for the Parade of Lights in Cortez Saturday night. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Hundreds
Hundreds of people lined Main Street in Cortez for the Parade of Lights. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Main
Main Street was closed for the Parade of Lights Saturday night in Cortez. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"More
More than 60 floats participated in the Parade of Lights in Cortez Saturday night. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Classic
Classic Air Medical dropped off Santa Claus at Maple and Main Streets at the beginning of the Parade of Lights Saturday. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Amid unseasonably warm weather, floats, cars, bicycles, dancers, carolers, dogs and horses lined up on South Maple Street and traveled along the north side of Main Street to North Park Street.<\/p>\n

Eric Trefethen organized one float with his son and his son\u2019s friends, all aged eight to 11.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good family outing,\u201d Trefethen said.<\/p>\n

The children aboard his float could hardly contain their enthusiasm, but paused for long enough to tell The Journal <\/em>what they were most excited about seeing in the parade minutes before its start.<\/p>\n

\"Children
Children were bubbling with energy aboard Eric Trefethen\u2019s float. (Kala Parkinson\/The Journal)<\/span>Kala Parkinson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cYelling at people,\u201d declared Rian Mead.<\/p>\n

His sister, Airyella \u2014 a combination of Ariel and Cinderella, she said \u2014 was looking forward to \u201cgetting to see the lights because I\u2019ve never been in a Christmas parade.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFamily,\u201d said Tanner Gipson, leaving it as simple as that.<\/p>\n

Battle Rock Charter School teachers Teagan Lewis and Lily Jamison-Cash, one wearing a dinosaur costume and the other dressed as the Grinch, were supervising excited children of their own.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Battle Rock Charter School float, supervised by teachers Teagan Lewis and Lily Jamison-Cash. (Kala Parkinson\/The Journal)<\/span>Kala Parkinson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe put a lot of time into this,\u201d Jamison-Cash said. \u201cThese kids have been really excited for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The parade marked a crowning moment for the Montezuma-Cortez High School band, who could be heard proudly rehearsing ahead of the procession after not being able to play in the event last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been two years, these kids are jacked,\u201d said band director Alexander Mohr.<\/p>\n

He said many students hadn\u2019t had the chance to perform in such an event since middle school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so excited to have our obnoxious lights and play our slightly less obnoxious music,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Wendy Williams \u2014 along with sister Becky Short\u2019s help \u2014 outfitted her St. Bernard dogs in bells, lights and antlers for the occasion.<\/p>\n

\"Wendy
Wendy Williams and Becky Short, with dogs Maggie, Walter and Iolanta. (Kala Parkinson\/The Journal)<\/span>Kala Parkinson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The fluffy dogs were exhibiting excitement of their own, restless and at the ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a little wiggly, they\u2019re very excited,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n

The dogs \u2013 Maggie, Walter and Iolanta \u2013 were easy to train, Williams said, and live a rural lifestyle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s new for them to come to town,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For Katrina Weiss and company, it was the first time acting as more than a spectator in the parade.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Katrina Weiss State Farm float. Weiss opened her business in Cortez in January. (Kala Parkinson\/The Journal)<\/span>Kala Parkinson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Weiss opened Katrina Weiss State Farm in January in Cortez, and the parade stirred feelings of gratitude, prompting her to to reflect back on the almost-year she\u2019s been in business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very impressive parade for this size of town,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Results are in<\/div>\n

In line with this year\u2019s theme, the judges of the floats were members of nonprofits. A first-, second- and third-place cash prize, sponsored by Four Corners Board of Realtors members and affiliates, will be awarded to floats in each of the three parade categories \u2013 commercial, nonprofit and other, which includes individuals, school and clubs.<\/p>\n

Judges, stationed at the north corner of Market and Main streets, evaluated participants for music and lights, creativity, theme development and workmanship.<\/p>\n

In the commercial category, first place went to Country Side Disposal. Second place went to Wood Designs Landscaping, and third place to Aaron\u2019s.<\/p>\n

In the nonprofit category, first place went to Cortez Future Farmers of America. Second place went to Charinda Jones, and third to Kiva Montessori School.<\/p>\n

In the other category, first place went to the Montelores Baptist Church. Second place went to Renew Inc., and third to Kiwanis Club of Mesa Verde.<\/p>\n

Although Battle Rock Charter School did not have a number in the parade lineup, the judges awarded the school\u2019s float an honorable mention.<\/p>\n

Judging this year\u2019s floats were Margo Lee from Court Appointed Special Advocates, Jerry Sam, a school resource officer and police officer, Rose Kerogen from Four Corners Child Advocacy, Heidi Mitchell from Habitat for Humanity and Rebecca Samulski from Onward! A Legacy Foundation.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s top three in each category were Holaday Trucking\/Harris Dirt Works\/Harris Transportation, Aaron\u2019s Sales and Lease, and Colorado Title and Closing Services in the commercial category; the Dolores Playground Group, Celebrate Recovery Rock Springs Church, and Girl Scouts Service Unit 206 in the nonprofit group; and the Montezuma County Patriots, Four Corners Dancers, and Koskies in the other category.<\/p>\n

Mesa Media Productions streamed the event live.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

year\u2019s event twice the size of last year\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[755,28,598],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-christmas","tag-headlines","tag-public-holiday"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43418","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=43418"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85696,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43418\/revisions\/85696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43418"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}