Parade

Results from the 87th Alsatia Mummers Parade: Special judges award This award is presented in recognition of outstanding performance and crowd appeal and by discretion of the judges and Alsatia Judging Committee as follows in no particular order: Maryland Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans The Band, marching unit A and B Dance Dimensions White Tiger Martial Arts Judging award winners Floats Hub City...

Officials in Franklin County, Pa., declared a state of emergency Saturday as Hurricane Sandy approaches the area, according to Dave Donohue, the county's director of emergency services. The declaration will enable the county to make quick repairs and buy supplies if needed, Donohue said. “We do want to encourage citizens to be prepared, including making a plan and having their emergency supplies kit,” Donohue wrote in an email. Donohue said 5 to 8 inches of rain are possible from the storm, as well as high winds and possible tornado activity.

After its first cancellation since World War II, the Alsatia Mummers Parade on Saturday night appeared not to have missed a beat as thousands of participants marched, danced and rode past thousands more spectators. About 200 units ranging from floats with a few people to school bands with scores of players paraded down Potomac Street. The Alsatia Club set up more than 2,200 chairs along the route, but the sidewalks were jammed several rows deep with spectators, while others enjoyed a view from their apartments on a balmy October night.

From cute kids in costume to unique floats, the annual Greencastle Halloween Parade cast a spell over young and old alike on Friday night. Even before the first drum beat from the Greencastle-Antrim high school and middle school marching bands, eager parade-goers claimed their spots along the parade route to get the best vantage point. The parade, sponsored by the Greencastle Exchange Club, started at the Jerome R. King Playground, followed South Carlisle Street to the square and turned east onto Baltimore Street.

Homecoming queens from high schools throughout Washington County gathered Saturday afternoon at the Alsatia Club before Saturday night's Mummers Parade. Through the luck of the draw, one of them would be named queen of the parade. Chuck Metz, chairman of club's Princesses and Queens Committee, explained the process. “This is the way we pick. We have the same number of necklaces as girls. They are all identical. But they all say 'Alsatia Mummers Parade Princess,' and only one says 'Queen,'” he said.

Just before dusk Thursday, the normally quiet Baltimore Street morphed into a play land for little witches, superheroes, princesses and Star Wars characters. About 200 local kids donned their various outfits and walked in the annual Funkstown Halloween Parade, a festive 30-year tradition that precedes the town's Trick-Or-Treat Night this evening. Shane Cushman and 4-year-old Derek Miles dressed as the dynamic duo of Batman and Robin. It was their first time participating in the parade, walking along with Cushman's fiancé and Derek's mother, Lisa Miles, and her 6-year-old daughter, Cassie Miles, in a fancy, blue Cinderella-esque princess dress.

All Funkstown children are invited to dress in their costumes and participate in the Funkstown Halloween Parade Thursday.  Ghosts and ghouls, along with princesses and pirates, are to line up behind Town Hall at 5 p.m. for the parade, which starts at 6 p.m.  The parade ends at Funkstown American Legion Post 211 for a party for the children. A thank you to the Ladies of the Auxiliary for hosting the get-together. The date and times for trick-or-treating in town were sent out with the water bill.

Another year, another drama for the Mummers Parade. And I mean a real drama, not the kind that happens here in the newsroom every year when we try to remember whether or not “Mummers Parade” has an apostrophe, and if so, where. Last year the Mums was canceled because of a rare, late-October snowstorm. This allowed the directors of the parade to enjoy the same constructive criticisms the school board receives a dozen times during the course of the year, when helpful parents decide that classes should/should not have been canceled over too much/too little snow.

As they have generations after generations, area residents will line the streets of downtown Hagerstown Saturday evening to take part in the pageantry, the party atmosphere, the tradition that is the Alsatia Mummers Parade. This weekend marks the 87th year for the event that is billed as the largest nighttime parade on the East Coast, with more than 10,000 participants and an estimated 75,000 spectators. Throughout the decades, it has become as much a social event as a source of entertainment, a time to reconnect with friends along the parade route and attend open houses in nearby neighborhoods.

As finalists in an America's Favorite Show Choir competition, Waynesboro Area Senior High School's top vocalists are hoping to strike a chord with online voters. The Wayneaires are asking for votes at www.parade.com/choir to earn them national bragging rights. The contest is associated with Parade magazine, which is included in The Herald-Mail on Sundays. High school senior Zachary Arestad said some of the other entrants have professionally made videos, while Waynesboro's submission was filmed on a cell phone.