North Fort Myers holds annual light parade
Every year during the holiday season, North Fort Myers residents dress up their pickup trucks, swamp buggies and juiced up golf carts in Christmas lights, ornaments and trailers that double as parade floats.
More than 200 vehicles lined up on Pritchett Parkway on Dec. 10, ready to go on its nearly 11-mile jaunt throughout the rural areas. And in a short period of time, the parade has changed a lot.
M.J. Cummings, a spokesperson for the parade, said the parade belongs to the people and that every year the parade gets bigger and better.
“Every year, we get more vehicles and more spectators. The neighborhood gets more involved and it’s harder to keep up with,” Cummings said. “We have more spectators because we have more houses.”
The event started as an offshoot from a similar parade in Buckingham and has grown to the point where it rivals the Buckingham parade.
For those participating, it is an opportunity to have fun with their friends and families while providing those watching along the route thrills and lots of candy.
Joey Summerall was with his brother, Rick, in a vehicle they have put in the parade for five years.
“It’s a lot of fun. It’s great to see all the lights and the people along the side of the road and throwing candy to the kids,” Summerall said. “The people put a lot of work into these. Every year you see something different, so you try to do it, add on to it and make it better.”
Kimber Bryant, 16, attends Evangelical Christian and brought a bunch of her classmates to ride on a float with her with one of her friends who does it.
“We’re out for the festive spirit to throw candy out and having a good time,” Bryant said, who was in the parade for the first time. “We saw this all over Facebook. It’s cool everyone comes together.”
Darlene Marrier learned about the event from friends who have a buggy decorated, just hours before the parade. They threw some lights and decorations on and went with it.
“They told us what they were doing and we put together a decorated cart in two hours,” Marrier said. “In this day and age, it’s going to bring joy to everyone, no matter where they are in life.”
Kaylin Nuccio was also a rookie and came from Cape Coral to take part. They learned about it after living in the area for years.
“After the hurricane we need people to come together to be cheerful and provide a distraction from what we lived through,” Nuccio said. “It’s great for the children and people put a lot of time and effort into this.”
There are definitely more people along the parade route, parking their vehicles off the side of the road. With new development like Brightwater coming in, it provides more of an audience.
Christina Mendez was along the route with her children. It’s the third year she has done this and she said it’s gotten better every year.
“The kids have so much fun. When they throw the candy out, it gets you into the spirit. We can all get together and it brings awareness to the small businesses who participate,” Mendez said. “These things are needed after all we’ve been through. They help bring things back to normal.”