Liz Condo - newsobserver.com
"American Idol" winner and parade Grand Marshal Scotty McCreery waves from his float.
RALEIGH -- Weldon Gammon was determined to win over the throngs lining the 67th annual Raleigh Christmas parade. He knew it was an uphill struggle, seeing as he was competing with parade Grand Marshal Scotty McCreery, Garner hometown hero and "American Idol" juggernaut.
Gammon pushed a plastic garbage can bolted to a small hand truck, all painted bright silver, a humble parade float crafted by his wife, Cindy, who was riding the lead horse of the 11-strong Carousel Paints and their Cowgirls.
And whenever his parade partner in crime Scott Chalmers slid his silver coal shovel under a pile of fresh road apples, the crowd erupted in applause.
Gammon peered into his float, about one-third full, and beamed a smile full of holiday cheer: "It's all part of the duties of a husband."
Good cheer and holiday spirit suffused the air Saturday under a crystalline Carolina blue sky.
Crowds lined Fayetteville Street at least six to eight deep, as the annual spectacle filed by in all its familiar finery: lines of antique tractors, Shriners mugging and goofing for the crowd, tinseled floats bearing young beauty queens with wide smiles and demure waves, jump ropers strutting their double Dutch, high school bands stepping with their flags and batons and thundering drum kits.
Here and there were some wondrous juxtapositions of life in the Triangle these days.
The thunderous pack of Ray Price Harley Davidsons, with antlered helmets, tinseled cycles and revving engines, was sandwiched between iconic works of 19th century European culture: Tchaikovsky's Rat King, Sugar Plum Fairies and others from Carolina Ballet's "Nutcracker" in front, and in the rear the cast of "The Christmas Carol" from Theatre in the Park, with Scrooge, in fine Christmas Eve form, hectoring the crowd: "The parade is over! Go home!"
"There's no Christmas this year!"
The most welcome of the sights was Scotty, smiling brightly from the grand marshal float as his generation of fans shrieked and snapped pictures.
Addison Allen, aged 1-1/2, arrived with her mom, Ashley Allen; grandmother Nancy Alger, and great grandmother Barbara Thornton.
As Scotty's approach was heralded as the cheers and shrieks rolling down the street, Ashley picked up her daughter, who greeted her with a big wet sneeze. But that was quickly forgotten as Scotty visibly brightened when Alger waved the family sign: "Addison Loves Scotty!"
A few floats behind was perhaps the most singular display of Christmas spirit: the American Turkish Association of North Carolina, an all Muslim group who draped their pickup with intricate Turkish rugs and topped it with an inflatable snowman. Dressed in bright traditional dress, with mirrored and brass jewelry, they spun and undulated to the rhythms of Tarkan, known as the "Prince of Pop" in Turkey.
Two women carried a large banner that would have made Tiny Tim smile: "Peace at Home, Peace in the World."
