Letter: Thanks to all who made Christmas parade a success

To the Editor:

I am writing to commend and congratulate everyone involved in the 2016 Bardstown-Nelson County Kiwanis Christmas Parade! For the second year in a row, the parade was sponsored by the Bardstown Kiwanis Club and presented by WBRT Radio. The theme this year was Salute to the Troops – Home for Christmas. As in years past, floats were judged on the theme.

Congratulations to Orbis for winning first overall. In the business category, Lowe’s placed first, and Peace of Work Yoga placed second. In the non-profit category, The Salvation Army placed first, and Barktown Rescue placed second. Our judges were: Kimberly Ball, Linda McCloskey, and Rachel Watkins. Our grand marshals were members of Charlie Battery 99th Division. Thank you, Charlie Battery, and to all who serve and have served. Without your service, we wouldn’t have a parade.

This year’s parade was made possible by the committee that included chairperson Sylvia Horlander, WBRT managing partner & Bardstown Kiwanis Club member Roth Stratton, Wilma Sorrell, Eddie Masterson, Joe Mattingly, Dorothy White, Donna Molyneaux, Bardstown Councilwoman Kecia Copeland, Rick Molyneaux, and Don Bresnahan, as well as WBRT’s staff, The Bardstown Kiwanis Club and The Bardstown High School Key Club.

Before the floats travelled downtown, professional singer/songwriter Mary Kutter revved up the crowd with Christmas songs. To know the floats’ names and their descriptions, a huge shout-out goes to WBRT announcers Darren George and Milt Spalding. WBRT’s Fred Hagan was originally planning to announce, but due to an illness, he was unable to attend. Fred is well and back on the airwaves.

Thank you, committee members, for your countless hours of hard work. Thank you to the community for supporting our parade and for trusting the committee. I also want to thank the Bardstown Police Department for assisting with crowd control. Thank you to The City of Bardstown for providing the barricades and helping with post-parade cleanup. All of us made the 2016 Bardstown-Nelson County Kiwanis Christmas Parade happen together!

Merry Christmas!

Sylvia Horlander
WBRT Radio
Bardstown