One of the biggest events of the year in Saucon Valley is this Sunday, Oct. 21, rain or shine. The annual Saucon Valley Spirit Parade will be held in Hellertown at 2 p.m.
Crowds line Walnut Street in Hellertown to watch the Saucon Valley Spirit Parade (FILE PHOTO)
The parade route is the same as it has been in recent years, with the route beginning and ending at the Saucon Valley School District campus, where lineup will take place from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Parade participants should enter the campus via Polk Valley Road (turn by the McDonald’s on Main Street).
The parade route needs to be cleared of parked vehicles by 9 a.m. Sunday.
The roughly circular route will take the numerous divisions down Walnut Street to Main Street; Main Street to Water Street; Water Street to Rentzheimer Drive (past the new “candy refill station” at the Hellertown Post Office); Rentzheimer Drive to Durham Street; and Durham Street to Constitution Avenue.
The route for the 2017 Saucon Valley Spirit Parade remains the same as it has been in recent years.
The roads on which the parade is being held will be closed to traffic and barricaded by 1:15 p.m., with the exception of Walnut Street which will be closed at Main Street at noon to help facilitate the parade’s safe staging. Motorists traveling through the borough should expect to be detoured and encounter delays before and during the parade.
This year’s parade them is “Fairy Tales” and the judges’ stand and announcer will be located next to Saucon Manor at Northampton and Water streets. The announcer will be Cheyenne Reiman and the judges this year are Diana Miller, Aubrey Herrera, Jimmy Skibo, Kelsey Kemmerer and Allie Nolf. Saucon Source will announce the names of the winners following the parade.
In a Facebook update this week parade chairman David Heintzelman also thanked parade volunteer coordinator Cathy Leibensberger, band coordinator Deb Mickolay, donation collectors Nancy Zapotocki and Diane Chernaskey, and the Saucon Valley cheerleaders under the direction of Tara Baier and Assistant Alex Harte, who will be the banner carriers.
Service Electric Cable TV will be airing the parade on its Channel 2 and will have a staging area in the 300 block of Main Street where it will be filming.
The Grand Marshal for the 2018 parade is well-known local resident, volunteer and former Hellertown business owner Bud Prosser, who has announced the parade for many years.
Prosser is “a man who dedicated himself to Saucon Valley and its values,” Heintzelman said.
In addition to co-owning the former Prosser’s Drug Store in Hellertown for many years, he has been very supportive of Saucon Valley sports and is known for writing a column in the weekly newspaper The Valley Voice called “As I See It.”
An avid Philadelphia sports teams fan Bud has been the emcee for many charitable and recognition functions in the Saucon Valley over the years.
He is an active member of Mountainview Moravian Church, where he has served on many of its boards and activities.
“He always knew how to place humor in his delivery and get away with it,” Heintzelman said. “Please applaud him and his wife Nancy for their love of our town.”
The 2018 Saucon Valley Spirit Parade is funded thanks to generous support from many donors, who this year include:
Band Sponsors: Law Offices of Mark P. Albright, Farmers Insurance Wimbish Agency, Saylor’s & Co., DiMaio’s Family Ristorante, Cindy’s Hair Designs, Trendz of Saucon Valley and Bucks Run Oil
General Sponsors: The Borough of Hellertown, Heintzelman Funeral Home Inc., Lower Saucon Township, Lehigh Valley Crematory Inc., Saucon Valley Woman’s Club, Lehigh Valley Animal Crematory Inc., Saucon Valley Lions Club, Hellertown Lions Club, Hellertown Historical Society, Mary & Rudy Neher and Service Electric Cable TV
Donations to help fund next year’s parade will be collected during this year’s parade, in which you can expect to see the following participants:
Saucon Valley High School Marching Band, 2018 Saucon Valley High School Homecoming Court, Saucon Valley Youth Football and Cheerleading, Saucon Valley Karate Academy, Pitstop the Clown, Saucon Valley Manor, Friends of the Hellertown Area Library, Easton Area Middle School Marching Band, Rich Hanner, New Jerusalem Lutheran Church, Olde Time Farming-Kathy Pichel-McGovern, Griffin Kerr as “Jack in the Beanstalk,” En Avant School of Dance, Lehigh Valley Model A Club, Casilio Concrete, Saylor’s & Co., Broughal Middle School, Cub Scout Pack #319, Co-op Gymnastics (Kids Co-op), Miss Pennsylvania Outstanding Teen Scholarship Organization, Drumming with Dan Andree, The Yippee Show Puppets, First United Church of Christ Hellertown, Palisades High School Band, Gary & Kathy Meyers “Where’s Waldo,” Sweet & Sassy Center Valley, Moravian Collegiate Band, Cub Scout Pack #349, Chery Chickey’s All-American Performing Arts Center, Girl Scouts of America-Saucon Valley Service Unit, Northeast Middle School Band, Jim Gardner State Farm Agent, Boser Geist Brewing Company, K-F Urban Fire Co., A Furry Tail Come True, Elegant Arrivals Limousine Service, C.A.R.S. Towing LLC and Nitschmann Middle School
This year Saucon Source plans to broadcast the parade live on our Facebook page, so be sure to like the page to get a notification if you won’t be able to watch the parade in person or on television.
Also, follow the Facebook event for the parade.
Note: Trick-or-Treat in Hellertown borough and Lower Saucon Township will be held Sunday, Oct. 28 from 3 to 5 p.m. (rain or shine). Participants are asked to leave their porch lights on.
