This Friday evening (December 4) the city will officially kick off the Holiday Season with the annual Nashville Christmas Parade downtown, sponsored by Piedmont Gas. The festivities begin with the city's Tree Lighting ceremony in front of the Metro Courthouse.
Since the Parade is just about as old as I am, it's always been a part of my life. That includes when I was in Sing-Out South in December, 1966 when cast members helped build and performed on a float in the parade.
In the 1960s the parade was different. It was held on Sunday afternoons (that changed after the Tennessee Titans came to town). The parade route was also different, beginning at Centennial Park near Vanderbilt then coming downtown via West End Avenue and Broadway. To revive some memories, here's a video of the Nashville Christmas Parade from back in the 1960s, courtesy of YouTube and with a little Burl Ives thrown in to put you in the holiday spirit of Christmases long, long ago...
What I remember about being with SOS in the Christmas parade in 1966was it was pretty cold (things don't change, the temperatures will be in the 30s this year on Friday night). But even though I remember the sun was out in 1966, it was a long time to perform outside in just your Sing-Out stage uniform (dress shirts, ties and blazers for the guys, those A-line jumpers for the ladies).
Of course, we also performed the same songs over and over again (that what you do in a parade) and since we didn't have a sound system I think it was kind of hard for folks to really hear us especially with all the nearby bands in the parade.
Finally, the flat bed truck that was a part of our float was not built for a lot of people performing choreography on it. We included some parts of our SOS stage on the float, including those very heavy steps.
I don't think we had time to do any practicing on the float before the parade and it was something of a shock when we all started doing our movements and the float seemed to be suddenly moving and shaking so much some cast members almost fell off. I think we faked the choreography the rest of the way. :)
All this is probably why I don't remember Sing-Out South ever performing in the Christmas Parade again. We did receive a overall good response from folks along the parade route, but really,just like today,everyone comes to the Christmas Parade to see this guy, Santa Claus, not us....
I wish I had a photo of SOS on that Christmas Parade float. I do have a shot of the other float we made when we were in the 4th of July Parade in Kingston Springs. I think it's already posted here on the blog somewhere (check July).
I have some vague memories of being involved in making the Christmas Parade float. We were in the basement of the Barrys' home over on Clairmont Drive. I can't remember anything about what the float looked like or what the wording on it said. All I remember was doing the work while listening to the Vanderbilt basketball game.
Vanderbilt was playing at Western Kentucky that evening. It was the first game for the Commodores without one of their greatest players ever, Clyde Lee, who had graduated the year before. With Western dedicating its new Diddle Arena, nobody gave Vandy much of a chance in the game against the highly touted WKU squad. But Vanderbilt won anyway! Maybe I can't remember anthing else about that night because I was wrapped in the game. :)
I have confirmed all this by going to Vandy's basketball media guide and looking up the date and details of the game which was played on December 1,1966. That would have been just a few days before the Christmas Parade on the first Sunday in December that year.
Isn't it amazing how your mind work (or doesn't) to remember things!
My family is always amazed (and somewhat annoyed) that I can remember things by what sporting events were occurring at the time. If and when they read this posting, I know they'll be having those same feelings again. :)
Happy Holidays!
If you have SOS Christmas Parade memories to share please leave them below or e-mail them to me.
I will be back with another SOS Holiday memory story next week!
Pat, do you know what location this view of the parade was filmed at?
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting!
Betsy....I just took another look at the YouTube video.
ReplyDeleteIt appears to me the home movie film was taken right where West End Avenue and Broad come together and form Broadway.
Remember in those days, the Parade started out near Centennial Park and traveled in West End towards Broadway and downtown.
If you watch the film closely you can see some of the buildings that are still in that area near the West End/Broad intersection, including what was then a major tire firm that is right at the center of where the two streets combine. Most people think of it as where the big elevated outdoor board is in that intersection.
I'd say the guy taking the pictures was standing on the West End side on the sidewalk in front where the Alex Palmer development hole is today.
I hope that helps. Thanks for visiting the blog!
Pat
Pat, I am not a Nashville native, I spent the 60's in Eugene Oregon, my hometown, so I am pretty pleased at myself that you concur my guess that the parade was shot near the West End and Broadway split.
ReplyDelete