Leesburg
Club Halloween Parade Attracts All Ages
by Suzanne Wright, Parade Chairman, Leesburg Kiwanis
For the 51st year, the Leesburg Kiwanis Halloween Parade
drew thousands, from very young to young at heart, to King
Street for a traditional parade. On Friday, October 31st,
over 100 units, including bands, police, fire and rescue,
emergency, forestry, equestrian, business, scout, schools
and civic units marched, rode elaborately decorated floats
and antique vehicles, passed out candy, and donated about
2,000 pounds of foodstuffs to Interfaith Relief. The Purcellville
Marine Corps Reserve led the parade with the Colors. Co-Grand
Marshals were the chiefs of the town Fire Department and
Volunteer Rescue Squad. Blue Ridge Hospice took Best Interpretation
of the Halloween Theme honors with a float based on the Adams
Family, the Loudoun Valley High School class of 2012 was
judged most creative, and the Unity Church of Loudoun County’s
float “Children are Treasures” was selected as Best Float.
The Goose Creek Kiwanis Club pitched in to make this another
memorable community event.
Many individuals join Kiwanis clubs specifically because we are an international
organization with a global mission-that lofty goal of changing
the world one child and one community at a time. To this
point, with a few notable exceptions, our Capital District
clubs seem to have focused on local efforts directed toward
helping our own children and communities. This is commendable,
but it does not address the incredible needs of children
worldwide...Accordingly,
our District Committee on International Understanding has
decided to pursue a new approach
to achieving our global mission. We have selected Africa because its needs are great and most of us know extremely
little about this part of the world...
