‘Jingle thru Joseph’ reflects town’s spirit
Published 4:00 pm Tuesday, December 3, 2013
- <p>Santa Claus gives a wave during a horse-drawn Jingle thru Joseph wagon ride on Main Street in Joseph Saturday afternoon, Nov. 30, with Scott Rushton at the reins. Two hours worth of free wagon rides preceded the annual Jingle thru Joseph Parade at 5 p.m., when both sides of the street were packed with warmly-dressed, festive spectators.</p>
JOSEPH The night was chilly but not nose-freezingly cold, perfect weather to watch an after-dark parade to usher in the holiday season. Star light decorations, supplemented by lights on all the businesses, turned Joseph into a small town wonderland.
The Jingle thru Joseph Parade is never very long, but its still a favorite with Joseph residents, visiting family members, friends and residents from up and down the Wallowa Valley.
The 2013 parade was led, as usual, with Santa Claus waving from atop a wagon drawn by two handsome work horses driven by Scott Rushton, representing Outlaw Restaurant. Santa rode on the wagon throughout the afternoon with admirers up and down Main Street as part of the Joseph Chamber of Commerce Jingle promotion.
Eleven entries in all included two standout floats fielded by local banks. Sterling Bank, which featured a happy feet, happy bank penguin theme, ended up with first place prize money ($150), followed closely by Community Bank in second place ($100) with an entry featuring a small lighted village labeled the happiest place. Both entries included an entourage of penguins and fairy tale characters handing out candy canes to the kids.
The third place cash prize ($50) went to the costumed Wallowa County 4-H Court of Maddi Tracy, Gabrielle Wells and Tiffanie George who led sheep and other farm animals adorned with lights.
Two nativity scenes, one by the Joseph Baptist Church (Make Room for Jesus) and the other by the Eisenbrandt family (Jesus is the Reason for the Season) were part of the parade; and floats or other entries were entered by The Sheep Shed, Pendleton Grain Growers, Mt. Joseph Family Foods, Alpenfest and the Joseph Fire Department.
We had a good turnout this year, and a good turnout of spectators, said parade chairman Brittany Rushton. Everyone seemed to have a good time.
Jingle thru Joseph wagon rides will continue this Saturday afternoon, Dec. 7, when the annual holiday bus tour from Union County arrives to visit Wallowa County shops. The tour buses are expected to arrive at noon with a special greeting by Santa, and depart with a send-off by carolers at 5 p.m
