On Saturday, December 7 SOAR took part in Walla Walla’s annual Holiday Parade of Lights. The morning of the event we got right to work. Members of the WWVDN staff along with a few volunteers gathered to help decorate the float working several hours to ensure it was ready for that night. During that time we faced a few challenges including electrical issues and broken decorations. Aaron Ojcius (the curator of the trailer and our driver) graciously built a canopy to protect our participants from the rain. Eventually we finished making our wonderful float for the parade. Interestingly enough, I feel the parade float we had created almost encapsulates the SOAR program in a nutshell. It can be challenging, and often things don’t go completely as planned, but in the end we’ve created something both unique and beautiful that everyone can enjoy.
Afterwards we all went our separate ways and got some rest before the big event. Later we all met around 5:30pm in front of the Sheriff's office to prepare the float and the equipment. SOAR participants would ride inside the float while everyone else walked beside it. Once everyone was ready we waited patiently for the parade to start.
Some of our staff and volunteers chose to wear inflatable costumes. They dressed as reindeer, penguins, turkeys, and even a Christmas tree greeting children and families as they walked along the parade route. The rest of us would pull wagons carrying goody bags and help distribute them to the crowd. We were the fourth parade float in line this year which made it easy to set a nice relaxing pace for our people. Surprisingly, even the weather was cooperating with us despite reports showing a high chance of freezing rain, leaving us with perfect conditions for a stroll through downtown.
Once we made it to the end of the parade we began helping our participants climb down safely from the float. We also took the time to help people out of their costumes since it was very difficult for them to unzip on their own. Once that was done we immediately began removing some of the decorations from the float and wishing everyone who took part a good night and merry Christmas. To this day, I still hear people from our community talking about how much fun this event was for them.
We look forward to once again participating in the Holiday Parade of Lights next year. It was a phenomenal way of bringing our community together and celebrating the holidays. A season of hope, love, and joy. These concepts are what we aspire to bring with SOAR events.
Thank you to all who participated and everyone who made this event possible. Merry Christmas to you from SOAR and the Walla Walla Valley Disability Network.
