There were cowboys and indians and 18-wheelers and four-wheelers and horses and tractors and antique cars and beautiful girls and a marching band...and it took two-and-a-half hours for all of them to make their way down the parade route on Saturday (December 8). It was the annual Cat Square Parade and it was the biggest of the parades we've covered this year.

We began our coverage at Maiden, then came Lincolnton, then Denver, then Cherryville, then Cat Square, then High Shoals. Just one left for us to cover: Stanley (Wednesday, December 12, 3 p.m.).

For bands, Lincolnton's parade took top honors: four bands! Maiden didn't have one band--a mix-up of some sort meant the Blue Devil Band didn't perform in this year's parade. For horses, Cat Square was the top parade, hoofs down! Lincolnton and Maiden parades had no horses at all. For 18-wheelers, Cat Square again was tops. It was also the longest parade by far.

Of course, we didn't attempt to cover all the parades in the area--just the ones in Lincoln County and the towns nearest to us. We didn't even know about the Hardin parade (Sunday, December 9) until we were at the High Shoals parade.

The Stanley parade will be our last to cover this year. But if you just can't get enough, Dallas has its parade on Thursday afternoon (December 14).

We hope you enjoyed seeing our pictures of the parades (we still have some to be posted) and we certainly welcome your pictures of the parades or anything else connected with Christmas (your home decorated, your Christmas tree, your kids or pets celebrating the season, church pictures, etc.).

Having been responsible for the Lincolnton parade back in the late '80's, this reporter knows just how difficult organizing a parade can be. So a special note of thanks to all those who had a hand in creating this year's parades for us to enjoy. And in the words of that fat fellow in the red suit who appeared near the end of every parade, "Merry Christmas!"