Tribune File/Nathan Orme - Members of the Sparks City Council and their family members tossed treats from the city parade float in 2008. The float was designed and assembled by Gerry Brooks.
“It’s a well-attended event,” Sparks Special events director Greg von Schottenstein said of the annual Sparks Hometowne Christmas parade. “We feel it sets the tone for the Christmas season.”
This year, about 113 cars, trucks and floats will cruise down Victorian Avenue, each giving their interpretation of this year’s parade theme: A Celebration of Angels.
“It seemed to be a universal theme,” von Schottenstein said. “And it’s uplifting.”
Of the hundred entries, one sits in a Sparks garage, its floral sheeting draped in a tarp.
“I started preparing back in October,” said Gerry Brooks, float designer for the city of Sparks.
Brooks has been designing and assembling the city of Sparks float, as well as the Santa Claus float, for the parade for about eight years.
“It started with a phone call from the city years ago,” Brooks said.
Now a full-time petroleum equipment distributor, Brooks was once a full-time dreamer and designer. The man designed and crafted floats for the San Francisco Chinese New Year parade, as well as the cherry blossom parade in Washington, D.C. and parades in Salinas, Calif.
This year’s entry for the city of Sparks is still under wraps, Brooks said, waiting for its final assembly and unveiling in the early morning hours of Saturday.
“It’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle,” he said. The designer started working on the float in October.
Brooks will arrive at the staging area at 5 a.m. Saturday with all of the float’s various parts. A little assembly and many hours later, the float will carry Sparks City Council members as it rolls down the street at 1 p.m.
Other Hometowne Christmas Parade events will include a Christmas storytelling time for children at the Sparks Heritage Museum from noon to 1 p.m. Santa and Mrs. Claus will visit with the children from noon to 2 p.m. and from 3 to 4 p.m. in the Glendale Schoolhouse on Victorian Square.
According to von Schottenstein, Victorian Avenue will be closed to all regular vehicular traffic on Saturday until 3 p.m.
Post a Comment