SEAL BEACH, Calif. — Last Friday, Dec. 6, community members flocked to Main St. in Seal Beach for the 46th annual Seal Beach Christmas Parade. The Seal Beach Lion’s Club organized the parade, and it was a great way for people to get into the holiday spirit.  

The Lion’s Club works tirelessly every year to make the parade happen. On Friday, volunteers lined the street to make sure everything went safely and smoothly. Kevin Young is a Lion’s Club volunteer who worked as a security guard at the parade. 

“We started putting this parade together about three months ago. (A lot of the work) is getting all the volunteers arranged,” Young said. 

All of their work was worth it when giant crowds of people showed up to watch the parade. The street was packed with community members who had set their beach chairs and blankets out earlier in the day. Both spectators and parade participants arrived hours early to decorate their floats and cars, pick up food or take a stroll down the pier before the procession began. Groups of children took the opportunity to play in the blocked-off street while the small businesses on Main St. benefited from the crowd’s shopping and eating. 

When the long-awaited parade finally began at 7 p.m., the crowd cheered for businesses, organizations and groups that walked down the street. The colorful lights of the floats and the costumed crowd followed the theme, “A Superhero Christmas,” perfectly and allowed everyone to get into the Christmas spirit.

Many festive groups participated, like the Los Alamitos High School marching band, which walked with Christmas hats on and their instruments decorated with lights and holiday wrapping paper. The Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts also took part, dressed in their uniforms with multicolored capes on. The LAHS Leo’s Club marched in the parade followed by their president, Kyan Whiten, riding in a maroon convertible car.

The Youth Center Family of the Year, the Logues, rode in the bed of a white truck decorated with Christmas lights and inflatables. The Girl Scouts of Los Alamitos and Seal Beach dressed in various costumes to fit the heroes theme, and the LAHS Advanced Dance team danced down the street to “Oh Santa.”

Walking in the parade was a fun experience for these groups to spread joy, show off their skills and hard work and promote their organization.

“I loved the holiday spirit, and, although we were tired, dancing with my friends and spreading Christmas cheer was so fun,” said Abbie Hennessey, a sophomore on the LAHS Advanced Dance team.

Not all of the participants needed costumes to fit the theme because there were multiple groups of real-life heroes that took part in the parade. At the very beginning, the Seal Beach Police Department came riding down Main St. on their motorcycles and made another appearance later on in the parade with their cars and trucks.

The Orange County Fire Authority also drove Engine 44 on the parade route. The Seal Beach lifeguards and members of the Naval Weapons Station participated as well.

The Seal Beach Christmas Parade had something different to make everyone’s holiday season, whether it was a decoratively wrapped musical instrument, a car covered with Christmas lights or a giant military vehicle.

“I’m ex-military, so I love all the military vehicles that are in the parade,” Young said.

All in all, the 46th annual Seal Beach Christmas Parade was an incredible event that highlighted the many amazing things about our community while helping people into the holiday spirit.