Sonora Christmas Parade From the Perspective of a BEAR!
In my last post, I talked about my adventures visiting Columbia State Historic Park. In the future, I will talk more in detail about how after visiting the Diggins we got involved with the park and already volunteered in a few of their events. For now, I’ll talk about the Sonora Christmas Parade from my bear perspective and let you in on the behind-the-scenes of being a State Park docent.
How We Became THE BEARS!!
As a docent of the Columbia State Park, you can help the park to prepare for, organize, or even be a part of all their events – and they do a lot!!!
Somewhere in November, after we graduated from the docent training, we went to Columbia to help decorate the float that would be representing the Columbia State Historic Park in the annual Sonora Christmas Parade. While decorating, I found out that a bear was wanted for hire!
– What?!?!
Yep, the park ranger, Caleb, told me they are looking for someone to be an inflatable bear and walk next to the float in the parade.
Now THAT sounded like my kinda fun.
When my sister saw me in the costume she was like,
-“OMG I want to be one, too!”
-“Well, as a matter of fact,” – said Caleb, park ranger – “we have one more costume! You want it?”
And that’s how my sister and I got hired to bear represent California State Parks in the Sonora Christmas Parade.
When we were all dressed up in the costumes we ended up racing each other! @Zombelina ended up falling, and as I looked back to see what was happening, she was up and running again. We ended up tying. ANyWAY! Let’s talk about the actual parade.
The BEAR-TASTIC Parade!!
The parade is located in Sonora and is an annual event that takes place the day after Thanksgiving. This year there were a total of 108 entries. That is the most entries the Sonora Christmas Parade has ever received!
When we arrived in Sonora, we helped add the finishing touches to our float and tried on our bear costumes again. While we were waiting to start moving, we got to enjoy some DELICIOUS hot chocolate and apple cider. Which was really nice because it was so cold out, and the drinks were soooo warm.
When we started moving, I realized how difficult it would be to keep track of where I was. Since I was in the bear costume, my sight was limited and I could only see straight ahead of me. As we reached the crowds, I would wave at everyone, and then turn back to see if I was still by the Columba State Park banner.
It was quite a fun experience, although my arms were very sore from continuously waving.. But hey! I got a hive five AND a hug!!
By the end of the event, I was sweaty, cold, and sore. Honestly, though, it was totally worth it to have participated in that event. My sister made a cool video about our experience in the parade.
And here are more pictures my mom took.
The Joy of Being a Docent
Joining events like the Sonora Christmas Parade isn’t the only awesome thing about being a docent at Columbia, you also make FRIENDS!!
Through Columbia, another docent invited us to a book club, where we were introduced to kids our age. And we actually made friends! I’M SO HAPPY WE DECIDED TO BECOME DOCENTS!! I am so looking forward to participating in more events.
Come Join Other Events Columbia Hosts!!
The Sonora Christmas Parade isn’t organized by Columbia State Park, we just participated in an event that has been Sonor’s tradition for the last 40 years. The State Park itself hosts many fun events throughout the year. I included some links at the bottom of this post for you to explore what is on their calendar. They are super interactive and engaging, like the Diggins. I highly encourage you to visit Columbia for one of the events! Make it a fun family weekend out to the historical Gold Rush County. Let me know when you’re in town. We would love to meet and show you around!
Here are a few links to a list of all of Columbia’s events, and more!!
- Friends of Columbia State Historic Park Website
- California Department of Parks and Recreation
- Columbia State Historic Park Events
Hope to see you there!
Click this to get to the page where you can sign up to be a docent yourself!
Momphotographer & Co. wishes you a Merry Christmas!!
5 responses to “The 2023 Sonora Christmas Parade From a Bear Perspective”
108 entries?! Wow that’s a crazy big parade! I bet you were walking forever. I love parades. It really brings out the best in people. It makes me happy to see everyone come together as a community to celebrate. Thank you for sharing!
It was awesome! I was on the float, so I wasn’t tired. But the kids were walking the entire time, and after the parade we had to walk back to the car. So, yeah… they did some good amount of walking that night! We came home around 8:30 and they were asleep by 9. Lol
It feels like the parade wasn’t long enough! I was literally just getting started. When we came to the end I was like “noooooo lets go backkkk” it was so fun!!
How fun! I loved the video & hearing about the parade from a bear’s perspective. Love that you guys are doing all these fun & enriching things & meeting new people. Can’t wait to see you all soon!
We can’t wait to see you guys!