71st Annual Holiday Parade

By Jennifer Ersalesi

Created by Chamber President, Dan Meredith

This weekend the Rutherford Chamber of Commerce will kick off the holiday season with the 71st Annual Holiday Parade. On Saturday, November 25th the parade will begin at 4:00 pm on Union Ave. near Carmita Ave. From 2:00 pm until the start of the parade, there will be a number of family-friendly activities on the West End of town near Blue Foundry Bank.

The locally famous young musicians, "Ghost Notes" will be playing live music on the West End before and during the parade. Children will have the opportunity to ride the Trackless Train through the parking lot at Blue Foundry Bank. There will be demonstrations and hands-on activities by Black Belt America from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm. Mambo's Latin Kitchen and Empanadas will be serving hot hors d'oeuvres. A brand new business on the West End, Code Wiz, will also be there to introduce themselves. Ferazzoli's Italian Kitchen will have ice cream for the children. Another new business, The Little Play Cafe, will be serving hot chocolate from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm. Cross Country Mortgage will also be set up on the West End to greet everyone. Santa will arrive on his float at 3:30 pm and will lead the parade at 4 pm.

Created by Chamber President, Dan Meredith

Created by Chamber President, Dan Meredith

This year's Grand Marshal, the Rutherford First Aid Ambulance Corps, will travel on a float sponsored by All Health Medical Group. The Rutherford First Aid Ambulance Corps is an all-volunteer organization and will soon be celebrating their 75th Anniversary. With over forty-five volunteers, forty of whom perform ambulance services in the field, the members of the Ambulance Corps rely on contributions from the community to fund everything from maintenance of the building to equipment and fuel. The Rutherford Chamber of Commerce is excited to celebrate the amazing work that the Ambulance Corps does in our community as they present them as the Grand Marshal of this year's parade.

Similar to last year's parade, there will be a number of community organizations and non-profit organizations, such as the Scouts, Rutherford Historic Society, and the Rutherford Irish Association, who will join businesses, such as Web Samurai for Hire and Backstage Performing Arts in the parade lineup. The RHS football team and the RJF football teams will proudly march in celebration of their fantastic seasons. There will be music by the RHS Marching Band, "Ghost Notes", a local Rutherford Rock band, "Parmesan Cheese" on a float sponsored by the Williams Center, Soldato Bookstore, Steven's Cafe, and live music on the Santa Float.

Created by Chamber President, Dan Meredith

The parade will travel from Union Ave to Ames Avenue and down Park Avenue to the Rutherford Public Library where the Rutherford Holiday Tree lighting will take place at 5:00 pm. Directly following the tree lighting, the Borough Winter Festival will take place in Lincoln Park.