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oing in to the 2011 Croakerfest “Christmas in July” parade, the big questions were: Will Santa keep cool? And how? After all, the air temperature at the parade’s 10am start was already in the 80’s, and the Santa Plush Suit Index was at least 20 degrees higher than that.

Happily, Santa managed to not melt. And how he did it was in plain sight on top of one of the Station 19 fire trucks that he rode in the parade.

Polar Technology: with a high on Saturday in the nineties, Santa had to press some North Pole technology into service – ice blocks and a Lasko fan.

As Santa sat and waved, a fan blew across several blocks of ice toward him. It was air conditioning the old fashioned way, and so, despite the heat, Santa survived. Word is he’s prepping for his Spirit of Christmas appearance in December.

Santa’s approach to the Town Dock. It was last December’s rained-out Christmas parade that led to this summer’s “Christmas in July” theme. Making lemonade out of lemons required a few blocks of ice.

While there was cool air rising on the Santa float, there was also the film of smoke around the parade route from a farwaway wildfire in Pender County. As a result, some face masks were deployed, and the Croaker Band was down one of its wind-section players because of the air quality.

Waiting for the parade to start, Joanna Smith donned a mask to cope with the wildfire smoke hanging in the air. She was part of the Spay/Neuter duo on the back of the Pamlico Animal Welfare Society float.

Smoke also came in the man-made variety, emerging from the mouth of one dragon. In another example of Croakerfest Parade technology, Bill Sternberg and John Kyak deployed smoke bombs through a sun-roof and in to the gullet of the beast…

The Frick and Frack float — with John Kayak riding shotgun/smoke bomb and Bill Sternberg driving. Note John’s hand through the sunroof. He was loading the smoke bombs in to a pulley system….

Clouds of yellow and blue combined for a dragon-ish green haze.

The 2011 Croakerfest parade may also be remembered for the gap about mid-way through the procession when nothing came down Hodges Street. The delay was so long that a large wave of spectators abandoned the sidelines and moved toward the harbor, thinking the parade was over. It wasn’t.

Sponge Bob was part of the FreezePop giveaway crew.

Just around the corner on Broad Street one entry in the parade, Alamance Foods, was handing out net bags of a dozen freeze pops. The going got slow when many more spectators thronged to the truck. Their demands for more from Sponge-Bob Square Pants and his colleagues slowed things down. One member of the crew says they gave away more than 800 bags.

Freeze Pops to take away. Some spectators were seen walking away with whole boxes of the pops. (Those who sought out the pops in hopes of something to cool down their body core, learned that the pops did not come pre-frozen.)

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After the parade, Patrick Baker of Oriental expressed relief that it wasn’t his entry that brought things to a halt. At the 2009 Spirit of Christmas parade, Patrick, dressed as The Grinch, rode a tractor that failed to proceed just about stage center, in front of Oriental’s Town Dock and had to be pushed away.

The Mountie — Patrick Baker of Oriental — rode an old red tractor (that notably didn’t break down) and pulled his jailed Grinch through town. The entry won for Best Fictional Character.

On Saturday, The Grinch was again in the parade, but Patrick Baker had switched roles. This time he was the Mountie who had captured him. For that, Patrick (and Naval Academy sophomore Scott Ebert as The Grinch) earned Best Fictional entry from the Ladies of the Neuse judges.

A jailed Grinch. Naval Academy sophomore Scott Ebert wore the mask, no small feat on the hot summer morning.

In that hazy area between fiction and non-fiction, Oriental’s newest mascot, the Chinese New Year’s dragon, made its summertime debut. Its handlers took a break this time, riding th the parade route on a float which featured a dragon egg, easily 4 feet across, from which the dragon emerged. Oriental’s drumming circle, the Drummin’ Dragons supplied the rhythm.

Oriental’s newest dragon — the winding orange Chinese New Years dragon — took a ride down the parade route. Wendy Osserman, walked the parade, coaxing the dragon along…..

The New Dragon won the Ladies of the Neuse award for Best Color Coordinated, while the Ladies top honors in the parade,, The Grand Poohbah Prize, went to the Sudan Temple’s Cooligans. A complete list of the Ladies of the Neuse winners and more photos are ahead.

Cooligan Santa offering a “Christmas in July” greeting while other Sudan Temple Cooligans zig and zag on Hodges Street. The Cooligans won the Grand Poohbah prize, bestowed by the Ladies of the Neuse judges.

Many more photos, this way….

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Oriental the Brave. At the start of the parade was a bagpiper – who at least once on the route had to stop and re-hoist the beachtowel kilt. Parade organizers say they only discovered Chris Jones of Waxhaw, NC on Friday. He was visiting in-laws in town and was practicing in a field near Windward Drive. He was quickly enlisted to play in the Saturday parade.

Bagpiper rounds the corner on to Hodges Street..

That black umbrella was initially used to ward off the sun, but it may’ve helped later to keep smoke at bay. TownDock.net’s Respiratory Endurance Award goes to Susan Gill and Peter Freeman who were directly behind the Frick and Frack float — and the smoke bomb sulfur — during the parade.

Front line of the Croaker Band — a subset of the Pamlico Community Band.

Passing Oriental’s Town Dock. The Croaker Band played despite that whiff of wildfire smoke in the air. (Though their ranks were down one clarinet player because of the particulates.)

Limited visibility, not from the smoke but from the sun-shading top hat. At one point, the electric vehicle did make contact with the end of the float ahead of it.

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Rick Smith — with Mary Maxwell driving — couldn’t quite keep in the Bah Humbug character. Theirs was one of the Minis in the nascent Million Mini March.

While the Million Mini March of the small cars didn’t fully come together, the Croakerfest 2011 parade did have a large component of dogs, both in the parade and along the route.

Goldie, the advance team for John Bond.

North Pole Dogs: riding shotgun with Santa were dogs Scarlet and Stella.

New York dog: Stacy Blasingame of Monticello, New York, holds her poodle “Cuddles”.

The Oriental Police vehicle. In the front seat was Isabella, granddaughter of just-retired Police Chief Jeff Casassa. In the back seat was Skipper, who belongs to auxiliary police officer Dwaine Moore.

No puppy under the tree, but the Evens family brought a hippopatamus for Christmas in July.

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Dan Reinecke, one of the Drummin’ Dragons along with Oriental’s newest dragon, and at aft of the float, the egg it hatched from.

A few moments later down the parade route, the other end of the dragon, and Lee Dueur, one of the dragon keepers, at left.

The Camp Seafarer bus won The Ladies of the Neuse award for Best Retro.

Some campers from Seafarer with their Christmas in July tree.

Seafarer camper.

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More one-on-one, less street litter. Jamie Gibbs of Pamlico Community College was hand-delivering candy to spectators.

The Shriners’ Mourning unit.

High off the ground, a tractor driver.

A flag — and a bit of a breeze — puts a different driver in the seat of one of the tractors in the parade.

The Oriental Tree Board took a break from planting live oaks and other native trees. From left Smilin’ Ken King and Toni Leavitt.

Buddy Kelly and his niece and daughter brought their own shade….

Texting-While-Parading? Opposable thumbs do have downsides.

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Butch Hardison’s Corvair topped by a Santa waits toward the very back of the parade lineup which stretched almost to Deatons’ on Neuse Drive.

Later on the parade route on Hodges Street.

A lollipop for the driver.

The Pamlico Republican Party float.

In lieu of tossing candy, the Pamlico Democratic Women entry sent off bubbles. They had a practice run while waiting on Ragan Road for the parade to start..

Jolly Roger Duel. Jason and Heather Haluska’s family won the Ladies of the Neuse award for Funniest.

Parade fare: Lisa Shivar has the solution for those who couldn’t get enough parade candy. The going rate was one bag for $3 or two for $5.

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The Oriental Express Bicycle Club sported their new dragon jerseys.

150 mpg. A motorized bicycle that was part of the “Scooter Crawl” organized by Gary Keel.

It also featured Christmas-festooned motorcycles.

Fay Bond sporting a watermelon motif croaker hat made for her by the Ladies of the Neuse. Her dress? She says her “mama made it in 1972 for Pamlico County’s centennial celebration.” The dress hasn’t missed a parade since.

Not everyone watched from the sidewalk. A kayaker was able to watch the parade — thru a gap in the railing along Oriental’s Town Dock wharf.

The Wrightsville Beach Lions Club lion, a mainstay of Oriental parades.

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Bill and Dot Collins showing off a fanciful stringer of fish that Santa might catch should he set a line. Frying them would be unwise, though. They are wood. Dot notes that after the parade, “the stringer goes back on the wall”.

Along with Oriental’s Station 19 — one of whose trucks was pressed in to Santa service for the parade — other Pamlico County Volunteer Fire Departments took part in the parade. Here, the Florence/Whortonsville unit.

Yikes, that’s loud! Izabella Goswick, attending the parade with parents Daniel and Ashley, adjusts to the sirens of the various Pamlico volunteer fire department trucks in the parade.

While walking down Hodges Street with her mom Tammy and dad Kip, Cole Banks paused to take the double-handed approach to silencing siren noise.

Bill Sternberg at the wheel as the Frick and Frack Dragon Float smoked its way down Hodges. Frick and Frack are the names of Bill’s dogs.

Frick and Frack float, aft.

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Winners of the 2011 Croaker Festival Parade, as judged by the Ladies of the Neuse/Oriental Womans Club:

Grand Pooh-bah: The Cooligans

Best Color Co-ordinated Float: The New Dragon

Best Mini-coop: Rudolph the Mini

Best Christmas Theme: The Elrich Family

Best Elves: First Citizen’s Bank

Best Dragon Wagon: Frick and Frack

Best Fictional Character: The Grinch & Canadian Mountie – Patrick Baker

Funkiest Float: Neverland Christmas – Ed Bryant

Best Retro – Camp Seafarer

Smallest Float: Gordon Pickett

Best Sport – Hiway from the Oriental Pet Parlour

See you in December. Cool Santa at Hodges and Broad.

Posted Tuesday July 5, 2011 by Bernie Harberts