Rain breaks long enough to allow Holiday at Home parade to shine

63rd Kettering parade caps long Labor Day weekend of crafts, music and fun.

Almost everyone in Kettering loves a parade.

Including, perhaps, Mother Nature, which paused Monday morning’s rain long enough to allow the staging and performance of the 2022 Holiday at Home Parade, the capstone event to Kettering’s Labor Day weekend festival.

Feeding a northbound flow on Far Hills Avenue from three directions — from eastbound and westbound Stroop Road, and from Far Hills just south of Stroop — the parade took its usual route from Stroop to Rockhill Avenue (nearly Dorothy Lane).

With the Kettering police color guard leading the way, the parade’s 63rd iteration began under partly cloudy skies a few minutes before 10 a.m.

Deborah Clark, of West Carrollton, was comfortably seated along Far Hills ready to watch her granddaughter, a cheerleader, take part.

“I just love the Holiday at Home Parade,” Clark said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

The parade theme this year was “Dog Days of Summer,” but at least in that regard, the weather did not cooperate. Temperatures were relatively cool under cloudy skies as parade participants staged at the Towne & Country Shopping Center parking lot.

The University of Dayton’s Pride of Dayton marching band is a Holiday at Home fixture. It was no different this year.

“It’s nice to see the hometown spirit every year,” said band member Jacob Slomko. “Just people coming out, watching the bands, watching the floats and whatnot. It’s a real nice spectacle.”

“It’s good to be part of the Dayton community, too,” said fellow band member Justin Holmes.

“It really connects everybody,” added Konnor Von Bargen.

Kettering resident Kim Borek was in place to watch her daughter, a UD senior, march with Pride of Dayton and others. Asked how many years she had enjoyed the parade, she said: “Quite a few.”

“It’s a great community,” she said.

“It’s a neat event,” said Jamie Suter, watching her daughter march.

Ed Dick, a Springfield resident, was provost guard with the Dayton Lodge of the Antioch Shrine, another parade favorite. “I guess it’s just the area” he said of the parade’s popularity. “I guess there’s just so much availability that people naturally come here.”

The fun continues until about 6 p.m. Monday. Kettering’s Lincoln Park features several entertainment acts, live music near the Fraze Pavilion, food, concessions, kids activities and dozens of craft booths of every variety.

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