Concord's Christmas Parade Slated For Nov. 23

CONCORD, NH — Despite funds being a little tight, the 2019 Concord NH Christmas Parade is slated to be held on Saturday, Nov. 23. This will be the parade's 68th year in the capital city, and volunteers have been working with care, in the hopes that Saint Nicholas will soon be there. The parade will start at 9:30 a.m. at the New Hampshire Department of Transportation building on Hazen Drive and will run east on Loudon Road to Canterbury Road. The parade will then turn onto Canterbury Road and march to Pembroke Road and end at the Capital City Business Center building at 70 Pembroke Road.

The roads will be closed until around noon-time. Make sure you nestle up all snug, since it will probably be chilly.

This is Brian Blackden's first year donning the parade organization cap after being voted on to be a member of the Grange, the organization that has hosted the parade for many years. Former state Rep. and City Councilor Dick Patten organized the parade for 49 years. In the past, Blackden has volunteered, assisting with traffic flow and other things, so it was natural that he would expand his volunteer work with the parade, to help keep the tradition alive.

Blackden has been busy raising money since August and just crossed over the $5,000 mark which is about what it costs to pay for everything. He started with a $0 fund balance this year, had a successful GoFundMe.com effort, and also reached out to new organizations and previous sponsors to help offset the cost of the event. The Eagles, he noted, had signed on to be a cosponsor for 2019.

Concord's Christmas Parade, he added, despite what some people in the community may think, was self-financed and received no money from the city.

This year, he said, there were "unexpected expenditures," too, including repairs to the sleigh and reindeer that hadn't been painted in years. The legs of the reindeer, since they raise such a clatter, also needed to be repaired. His kitchen, Blackden said, was like a construction site while his wife, in her kerchief, was at work.

Others helped, too, with a couple of volunteers welding the sleigh rails back on, so the little old driver, so lively and quick, we will know when we see it, that it must be Saint Nick.

There were other helpful elves, Blackden noted, performing other tasks, too, to ensure that event was as special as it can be.

More than 50 floats are expected or have been booked as well as walkers, military vehicles, fire trucks, line workers from utility companies, the Red Cross, and others, with cheeks like roses and noses like cherries. Concord and Merrimack Valley high schools are sending their bands. And there might even be a presidential candidate or two, too. Recycle Percussion, after seeing the posts on Facebook about the parade, signed up to bring its monster truck from Chaos and Kindness.

"It's a really wide variety," Blackden said.

The deadline to sign up to participate with a float and fill out the registration form is Nov. 20.

This year, the segmentation of the parade will be a little different, with Blackden reformatting it into three separate waves of floats. The thought, he said, was to have first responders and the military groups in the front and back of the parade, with the people and orgs in the middle, signifying what heroes do to protect the public.

"I want it to stand for something; I want it to have a deeper meaning than just Christmas," he said. "I want it to show that it's a true community project."

Blackden is still short on volunteers, about eight, needed to march while holding sponsorship banners in the parade.

"We just need eight people who want a mile's worth of exercise," he laughed.

Other than that, everything is ready to go, he said.

"I hope that people will appreciate how different it will be this year," Blackden said. "And how much work everyone has put into it. We've been thinking outside the box."

For more information about the parade, updates, photos, and more, visit the 2019 Concord NH Christmas Parade Facebook page. Apologies to Clement Clarke Moore for inserting some of his classic Christmas poem (can you guess what it is?) into this story, for fun, to get everyone into the spirit.

Got a news tip? Send it to Tony Schinella at tony.schinella@patch.com.

View more videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/tonyschinella.