Submitted by Richard Bailey
The start of the holiday season kicked off last week with the 48th annual holiday parade. Thousands of residents and visitors watched the festivities culminating in the tree and menorah lighting at Rotary Plaza.
The magical night was made possible thanks to the leadership of Rena Clancy and Kerri Dowling of the Coronado Chamber of Commerce. The two organized the parade entries, coordinated with City departments, and spearheaded the massive upgrade to the tree lights. Thank you!
The upgraded tree lights are now in their second year and are made possible by funding from the City of Coronado and Discover Coronado. Our City staff was also critical in making the event a success. Public safety personnel marched in the parade and were on duty providing traffic control and responding to emergency calls. We also received support from other law enforcement agencies, including the County Sheriff’s Department. Public services assisted with event set up and clean up. It was a total team effort. Thank you!
Event sponsors Discover Coronado, EDCO, and Cal-Am Water made generous contributions to help cover expenses. Thank you!
And, of course, our Coronado community showed up as always. I want to extend my thanks to all of the parade entries, to our local businesses for staying open late, to Rena Clancy and Fred Eckert as fantastic emcees, to the Woiwodes leading us in carols, and to the thousands of smiling faces that gathered around Santa and Mrs. Claus to watch the lighting of the brightest tree in southern California.
On behalf of our entire community, thank you to everyone who made the kickoff to the holiday season a success!
Richard Bailey
Mayor, City of Coronado
