Parade a bright spot on chilly day

From atop a double-parked RV, the Bechler and Macklin families had some of the best seats for Friday’s Christmas parade and fireworks show in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

While many had sat on the curb or in lawn chairs to wait for the festivities to begin at 5 p.m., the Bechlers and Macklins were able to relax in the heated RV.

“It saves my marriage,” Walter Bechler said. “My wife stays warm.”

Prime viewing of the lighted parade came at a price, though: a $60 parking ticket.

With seven kids between the two families, Leroy Macklin said the ticket was worth it, just to keep warm and have a place to feed the brood. And although he’s a fan of parades and sporting events, Macklin said, he doesn’t “do cold.”

And the holiday parade is definitely Coeur d’Alene’s coldest of the year, with temperatures in the mid-30s Friday.

Kyle Shibley, a forward with the Coeur d’Alene Lakers hockey team, said the ice rink where his team plays is warm compared to the Christmas parade.

But his team wouldn’t miss it. For the past three years, the teammates have worked their game schedule around the parade. This year about 20 players walked the route on Sherman Avenue, handing out stickers to children.

Thousands of people crowded along the parade route. Children shouted, “Santa!” as the jolly man was spotted on one float and then another, one slim and the next fat.

“We like the Santas,” 11-year-old Sophie Adams said.

“They were funny,” added her friend, 8-year-old Macy DuCoeur.

The two girls cheered along with the Lake City High School cheerleaders and shouted out the Idaho Vandal fight song when the University of Idaho float drove past.

Tunes by the Winter Wonder Band, an informal marching band that’s become a regular entry in the annual parade, mingled with other songs of Christmas in the wintry air.

Baritone player James Primmer said the group had tried to dress in traditional Christmas garb, but it was proving too difficult.

So they simply settled on costumes that were “old.”

Primmer was a Viking. Others in the band dressed as peasants. There was a Roman dressed in a purple toga, a mountain man and a cowgirl.

The toga costume was only slightly warmer than that worn by Adam Stone, who portrayed Christ on the crucifix on a float for the Potters House Church.

From the front, the float looked like a scene from Christmas morning, with a family gathered around the Christmas tree, a fire roaring and presents to be opened.

Stone hung from a giant cross on the back of the church’s float – it was the last thing the crowd saw as the float, pulled by a semi, drove past. Some in the audience gasped at the scene.

“He’s going to freeze to death, but it’s worth it,” Shannon Stone said of her husband, who was bare except for a loincloth, and drenched in fake blood while wearing a crown of thorns.

“Anything for Jesus,” said Rathdrum’s Colleen Brown, who also attends the church. “The reason we do this is we believe in the Gospel. It’s about seeing what Jesus did for us.”