Each year the parade committee selects a local person that embodies the heart, spirit, and openness of the Christmas season and gives them the honor of beginning the annual celebration by blowing the whistle that begins a celebration of true joy. Though normally an elementary school child, the committee recognizes that very select, special individuals remain a child of wonder throughout their entire life and have the unique ability to possess within their being the very reason we celebrate this magnificent time of year. To honor that special spirit, the committee bestows upon them the title of Official Parade Starter.<\/p>\n
Here is a list of the past Official Parade Starters:<\/p>\n
2024 – Rollins Maddox<\/strong><\/p>\n 2023 – Sophia Westerfield<\/strong>, Local 2nd Grader<\/p>\n 2022\u00a0– Lila and Ollie Adams<\/strong>, Owensboro Catholic K-3 Campus<\/p>\n 2019 – Isabella Paige Watts<\/strong>, Audubon Elementary School<\/p>\n 2018 – Reese Boswell<\/strong>, Meadow Lands Elementary School<\/p>\n 2017 – Peyton Penrod<\/strong>, Owensboro Middle School<\/p>\n 2016 – Ella, Aiden, and Reese Johnston<\/strong><\/p>\n 2015 – Myla Dennis<\/strong>, Maximilian Montessori Academy<\/p>\n 2014 – Samantha Phillips<\/strong>, Daviess County Middle School<\/p>\n 2012 – Butch Freels<\/strong>, Wendall Foster Campus<\/p>\n 2011 – Caroline Boarman<\/strong>, Southern Oaks Elementary School<\/p>\n 2010 – Boston Parisi<\/strong>, Maximilian Montessori Academy<\/p>\n 2009 – Kayla Mattingly<\/strong>, Majesty Academy<\/p>\n 2008 – Matthew Caldwell<\/strong>, Owensboro Catholic 4-6 Center<\/p>\n 2007 – Will Sims<\/strong>, Sorgho Elementary School<\/p>\n 2006 – Kylasa Martindale<\/strong>, Cravens Elementary School<\/p>\n 2005 – Kayelyn Kuphal<\/strong>, Highland Elementary School<\/p>\n 2004 – Tre Coates<\/strong>, Audubon Elementary School<\/p>\n 2003 – Krystyn Church & Kiefer Church<\/strong>, South Hancock County Elementary School<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Each year the parade committee selects a local person that embodies the heart, spirit, and openness of the Christmas season and gives them the honor of beginning the annual celebration by blowing the whistle that begins a celebration of true joy. Though normally an elementary school child, the committee recognizes that very select, special individuals […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":44,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-107","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christmasparade.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christmasparade.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christmasparade.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christmasparade.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christmasparade.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107"}],"version-history":[{"count":49,"href":"https:\/\/christmasparade.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2464,"href":"https:\/\/christmasparade.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107\/revisions\/2464"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christmasparade.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/44"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christmasparade.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}