Christmas along the Coast

The weather was feeling a lot like Christmas last Saturday night as the annual Christmas on the Coast in Port St. Joe and the Christmas Tree Lighting and Golf Cart parade in Mexico Beach were held. The temperatures were chilly, the wind brisk, but the lights were bright and the children, along with Kris Kringle, were gathered along Reid Avenue and in Sunset Park for a little community warmth.

The City Of Mexico Beach added a new twist to their tree lighting ceremony this year when the city council allowed the local golf carters to host the first annual Christmas Golf Cart Parade.  The parade traveled along U.S. 98 from 14th to the Sunset Park.  Eight carters participated in the parade. The final vehicle was the Mexico Beach Fire truck with Santa Claus himself as a passenger. Traci Gaddis, the parade chairperson stated that the parade was a great success.  "We had quite a variety in the parade from an inflatable Santa Surfer to a cart with a working fireplace and a reindeer that got run over by Grandma."  Gaddis stated that next year would be bigger and better.  She would like to thank the City and Department of Public Safety for all of their help and support.  Each golf cart was presented with a commemorative Christmas stocking to denote the year of the first golf cart parade.

Photos by Debbie Hooper (www.joebay.com), Andi Ashmore and Tim Croft.