Agriculture featured in annual Los Banos Christmas parade

The brisk cold didn’t stop residents from enjoying the annual Los Banos Chamber of Commerce Community Christmas Parade on Friday night.

“We’ve been coming for the past three years,” Los Banos resident Cynthia Patterson said. “This is a nice, small town, and I like seeing the kids dancing, honoring veterans, the dancing horses, but all of it really.”

This year, the dancing, prancing horses also fit the parade’s theme of “A Big Ag Christmas.”

The Christmas parade featured 54 entries this year, including many that celebrated the city’s agricultural roots and backdrop. One float showed lighted reindeer silhouettes pulling a farm tractor bearing gifts.

Holiday lights lined the drums and horns of the Los Banos High and Pacheco High marching bands. Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, school and other children’s groups dressed in Santa and elf hats as they waived to the hundreds of spectators along Sixth Street.

“We always have great involvement from the community, clubs and schools,” said chamber President Sandy Lemas.

The parade started with members of the Los Banos VFW and American Legion marching with the U.S. flag at Fourth and H streets, traveling down Fourth Street to K Street before turning left on K Street and Sixth Street.

The parade moved up Sixth Street to Henry Miller Plaza, where a gathering of 300 people then witnessed carols by the Los Banos High School choir and listened to chamber and City Council members announce parade award winners.

After the last award, members of the City Council, chamber and parade sponsor Republic Services counted down for the lighting of the community Christmas tree.

For many of the paradegoers, the event has become a tradition.

Los Banos resident Niky Esparza said she has been coming to the parade with her kids and close friends for the past several years.

“It definitely helps kick off Christmas,” she said.

Her son, 7-year-old Leonardo Coronado, said his favorite part of the parade was Santa.

“He’s a nice guy,” Leonardo said.

This year, Santa, who usually is the anticipated finale of the parade with a “Ho, Ho, Ho,” was a little late. But he eventually closed the parade in a tractor driven by Erik Limon, a representative of Republic Services.

But Santa was on hand with Limon, Lemas, Mayor Mike Villalta and other City Council members for the lighting of the community Christmas tree.

This story was originally published December 4, 2016 at 4:07 PM with the headline "Agriculture featured in annual Los Banos Christmas parade."