PARKERSBURG - About 100 units in the Parkersburg Homecoming Parade were met by the cheers of hundreds of spectators Saturday as they traveled down Market Street.
Parade organizer Lori Ullman-Wright said all of the parade participants had fun with this year's Homecoming theme, "It's a Green Thing."
"The theme this year is all about recycling and being good to the planet, so we're having some fun with it," she said. "We've got four hybrid cars and an electric four-wheeler in the parade, including some really unique floats. We'll be judging the floats by best use of the theme."
Article Photos
Photo by Brett Dunlap
Clowns were being playful Saturday during the 2011 Parkersburg Homecoming Parade along Market Street.
Parade preparations on Saturday morning took place in the parking lot of Parkersburg High School, where about a dozen volunteers helped coordinate the floats and vehicles.
"It's organized chaos during set-up time," said Ullman-Wright. "It's an effort, but we love it. We do this for the whole community, especially the children."
Judy K. Sheppard, president of Professional Services of America Inc., of Parkersburg, served as parade marshal.
Fact Box
Grand Parade
More than 100 units participated in the Parkersburg Homecoming Parade Saturday.
Hybrid cars were featured to go along with the theme "It's a Green Thing."
New units in the parade this year included Frontier Communications and New Harvest Community Church, who decorated its float as a recycling bin and featured a team of dancers clad in newspaper costumes and carrying brooms.
Members of the Nemesis Shriners Temple participated in the parade with their familiar miniature cars, as well as several vehicles.
Don Hamrick, of the Shriners, said about 50 members of the Shriner Temple participate in the parade each year.
"We all look forward to it, and we've been a part of the parade since Homecoming began. We've never missed a year," he said.
Nemesis Shriners supports 22 Shriner hospitals throughout the country.
Other parade participants included the Parkersburg South, Williamstown and Parkersburg High School bands, law enforcement and fire agencies, high school cheerleaders and dance teams, churches, pageant winners and the Parkersburg Actors Guild.
The parade winners were:
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