Southport Magazine

Remember Lucy telling Charlie Brown in the Peanuts Christmas Special that “of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you’re the Charlie Brownest”? Well, I believe that of all the events and happenings on Oak Island, the Christmas By The Sea Parade is the Oak Islandiest. By far. It puts on display all the things I love about this town, from its small town neighborliness to its sometimes bizarre quirkiness. In our 27 Christmases as residents of this town, I think we missed maybe one parade. And the ways I’ve gotten to experience it are as wide ranging as the floats and groups that make the parade so special to so many of us. 

Our very first parade experience, way back in 1994, drew us directly into the small-town feel of our parade. We were new homeowners and lucky to be neighbors to another couple just buying their first home as newlyweds as well. In that first parade one of our neighbors was part of the Coast Guard Color Guard and the other was driving his Yaupon Beach Police cruiser in the procession. We were able to join in the tradition of excitedly yelling out the names of everyone in the parade that you know like you’d like not seen them in ages, “HI MISTY!!!!” And “HI CHARLES!” We still do this, even though now we know someone in most of the parade groups. 

The Christmas By The Sea Parade occupies that awesome first weekend of December when it’s finally and officially the Festive Christmas Season. This serves to make the parade a fine excuse for a social event, gathering friends and family to watch the parade together and often returning to someone’s house for the first Christmas party of the year. Many years that house was ours and I’d make a big pot of chili to warm everyone up. Sometimes that wasn’t at all necessary as it was 75 degrees, but hey, the thought was there.

My first chance to become a part of the parade rather than being a spectator came in 1999 when a friend of ours was the parade chairperson for the Southport-Oak Island Chamber of Commerce. She knew how much I loved the parade, and, probably more importantly, that I might be able to borrow a convertible for the occasion. When I asked my boss, who owned a two-seater Mercedes convertible, if I could borrow it for the parade he jumped at the chance because he wanted badly to drive the Jeep I had to offer in trade for the weekend. I ended up driving the Grand Marshal, a morning news host whose name I can’t remember for the life of me, and we had a ball despite the freezing weather and sleet. The next year I drove  St. James Mayor Dye, who I knew from my years working on the golf course grounds crew out there. 

After spending the next few years back on the curb yelling out names of friends and collecting the Tootsie Rolls thrown in our direction, I rejoined the ranks of parade participants when our son John joined the Cub Scouts. Riding in a parade float with Cub Scouts is a very different experience from driving dignitaries. Boys that age are savages. They are adorable and great fun and I wouldn’t trade my years as a Cub Scout leader for anything, but they are savages. Simply keeping them from injuring themselves or others took the efforts of four or five dads. Elementary age boys do not understand the difference between throw candy “to” people and throw candy “at” people. One year we had the bright idea to give them dog bones to toss to pups along the route. If you were one of the unfortunate spectators hit with a flying Milk Bone, let me take this time to apologize and assure you we learned our lesson and never did that again. 

After Cub Scouts, it wasn’t long before John joined the South Brunswick High School Marching Band and we began watching the parade with a gaggle of Band Parents. Those years were my favorite. Seeing our son marching in the parade that defined for me all that I love about where we live was simply heartwarming. Organizing getting him and his instrument sorted after the parade was a new challenge, but by the end of his career in the Pride of the South Coast, we almost had it figured out.

Somewhere in there, I’m not sure exactly where, we watched the parade dressed in full Victorian Christmas finery. I was sporting a top hat, scarf and tail coat. We had a good reason, though I think one shouldn’t need a reason to don a top hat during the Christmas Season. For a couple years, Brunswick Little Theatre participated in a Dickens Festival in Southport, and one year it overlapped with the parade. So we just dressed up and sat in front of Town Hall to watch the parade before heading to Fezziwig’s Ball. It speaks volumes about Oak Island that no one really found this odd. 

Last year we rejoined the parade for its weirdest year yet, the Flip Flopped Christmas Parade. We represented Southport Magazine at this event with a sort of semi-decorated boat and a pile of magazines to hand out. All the floats parked along Dolphin Drive and the spectators drove by. We had no idea what to expect. Would people embrace this idea or think it was silly and not show? They showed up in droves. For three hours, a steady stream of cars and golf carts, some decorated better than our float, passed by and we exchanged greetings and handed out hundreds of magazines. It ended up being my favorite event in the entire weird, pandemic-afflicted Christmas 2020 season. 

This year things are back to normal and we’ll be back on the curb. We just couldn’t find the time to put together a float, and I really need to take some  photos of a normal parade. Not that anything about our Christmas parade is ever really normal. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.