Parade, festival celebrates Henderson heritage

By Jeremy Twitchell

Saturday, April 18, 2009 | 1:10 p.m.

Henderson residents old and new gathered on Water Street this morning to celebrate the city’s oldest tradition — the Henderson Heritage Parade.

The parade, which has been every spring since the city’s incorporation in 1953, drew about 60 entries that ranged from local school marching bands to church groups to cultural clubs.

Councilman Jack Clark, marching in the parade for the 16th and last time as a City Council member, said the parade is about celebrating Henderson’s roots.

“This is who we are, really,” Clark said. “I think people sometimes forget that with our master-planned communities, but this is what Henderson is all about.”

In the current economy, that’s even more important, Clark said. He said the crowd seemed bigger this year than in recent years, and attributed the rise in attendance to tough economic times that have made people place a greater emphasis on home and family.

“Especially in this economy, people are returning to their roots,” he said. “They’re coming back home.”

Henderson resident Scott Kramer, who donned a homemade belt buckle that proclaimed his status as a Henderson resident since 1948, said he remembers marching in the parade as a child and watching his five children march in the parade. He still comes back every year to reconnect with old friends.

“Now, it’s so darn big, I can count on one hand how many people I’ve seen that I know,” Kramer said.

Another resident, Leslie Neal, said her daughters have been marching in the parade with their dance group since 2000, and said this year’s parade was the biggest she’s seen.

“It means a lot to me to see this,” Neal said. “For a while, it seemed the community wasn’t really involved in a lot of things, so it’s nice to see people coming back.”

Her daughers, Katelyn, 14 and Savannah, 8, had just finished the parade route with Brenda’s Dance and Tumbling Studio, and were quick to answer when asked about their favorite part of the parade.

“Brenda’s Dance team was the best of all,” Katelyn Neal said. Then, with a smile and a laugh, she added, “Mostly because I was in it.”

Savannah Neal said her favorite part of the parade was the crowd.

“I think that the parade was the best parade ever, because it had so much inspiration from the audience,” she said.

Following the parade, the city kicked off the Heritage Festival on the Events Plaza next to City Hall. Food vendors representing more than a dozen countries set up shop, while singing and dancing groups from around the world gave free performances on two stages and 10 artisans demonstrated their skills within the Convention Center.

Meanwhile, a few dozen tricked-out cars, modern and classic, filled in behind the parade and set up a car show on Water Street.

Earlier in the day, a breakfast with the City Council raised about $700 for HopeLink, a Henderson non-profit organization that assists needy families.

City Clerk Monica Simmons, a Henderson native who can remember marching in several parades as a child and teenager, said the parade and festival bridges the gap between the sprawling city of about 270,000 residents and the small town of a few hundred that incorporated 56 years ago.

“I think it just brings back a lot of wonderful memories of how Henderson used to be and how we maintain those small-town values through expansive growth,” Simmons said.