Whittier, CA -- A year after being cancelled amid the pandemic, Whittier’s 67th annual Christmas parade will be held again at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, but it will only be about half as big as normal.
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| Santa Claus greets children along Greenleaf Avenue in Whittier during the 66th Annual Uptown Whittier Christmas Parade on Saturday December 14, 2019. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, Contributing Photographer) |
Instead of having a typical 13 divisions or around 1,500 participants, there will be seven divisions or 700 to 800 people, Frank Medina, Whittier Uptown Association president, told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
The parade will be held on its traditional route on Greenleaf Avenue from Hadley Street to Mar Vista Street.
“I’m glad it’s on a smaller scale because we have to be mindful and aware of what we’re coming out of,” Medina said. “If we were to go full bore, it wouldn’t show classiness on our end.”
Medina said he also expects attendance to be around 6,000 to 8,000 in contrast to the usual 15,000.
He gave two reasons for the reduced attendance — the smaller size of the parade and concern about the continuing presence of the pandemic.
Robert Ruiz, who has owned Melrose Vintage in Uptown Whittier for about 30 years, said he’s grateful the parade wasn’t postponed another year.
“That’s good news,” Ruiz said. “It means we’re trying to get things rolling again. Meaningful steps are being made. Hopefully, next year we get a full-size parade.”
This year, people will be able to watch the parade — for a cost — at the restaurants with outdoor dining on Greenleaf, Medina said. So far, some restaurants are selling VIP seats, others are opening early to allow seating and a few are remaining closed, he added.
The parade will have a grand marshal. The association chose actor Jared Kozak, a Whittier resident, who was in Orson’s Last Dance, Y’All-R Family and Goodbye Dessa.
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| Jared Kozak |
Kozak is the first Nickelodeon actor known to have Down syndrome, voicing CJ in the network's hit animated series The Casagrandes. He is also a Special Olympic medalist and works with Whittier’s New Frontier, a city theater program.
"We picked him because he has a lot of Whittier pride,” Cynthia Valenzuela, the association’s office administrator. “He has done a lot of programs for the community.”
The parade will feature 12 bands, including a Whittier Union High School District band with representatives from all of its schools.
This year’s theme is “Home for the Holidays.”
Originally published: December 10, 2021.
