hollywood christmas parade

For Michelle Sawers, the bottom line Sunday night was that no matter what, she and her family got to watch a holiday parade along Hollywood Boulevard.

"It's a family tradition," said Sawers, who was surrounded by her four young children and her father near North Cherokee Avenue. "It's on the agenda every year. It's the kickoff to our Christmas season."

The 40-year-old Highland Park resident was part of a crowd that police estimated at 125,000 to 150,000, who watched the Hollywood Santa Parade -- an event that almost did not happen.

In March, it looked as though the 79-year-old parade, formerly the Hollywood Christmas Parade, had finally run its course. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced it would no longer hold the event after facing a $100,000 deficit in producing last year's $1-million parade. Chamber officials estimated they would lose twice as much money if they held the event again this year.

In its heyday, such stars as Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart, Natalie Wood and Gene Autry dazzled the crowd, waving from convertibles. The entertainers were often bound by their studio contracts to make an appearance. As recently as a decade ago, an estimated three-quarters of a million people lined the streets to watch the parade.

But beginning in 1998, officials struggled to secure television contracts that could guarantee celebrities the exposure they needed. The difficulty only worsened each year as more TV stations balked at broadcasting the event for lack of big-name celebrities.

Over the last three years, the chamber was offered broadcast fees from only one station, KTLA-TV Channel 5, which is owned by the Los Angeles Times' parent company, the Tribune Co. This year, KTLA didn't broadcast the parade live and instead will air it Dec. 16 at noon.

Last year's parade was led by Regis Philbin, Hulk Hogan, George Lopez and Michael Bolton for a smaller crowd than organizers hoped would attend. The event seemed unsalvageable.

But city leaders refused to accept the parade's demise. They raised $260,000 -- $60,000 from the city and the rest from sponsors -- to hold the event this year and pledged to do the same next year.

"I know it's tough for traffic and I know it's tough getting every celebrity you want, but when you get this many people coming out each year, it's tough to say no," Councilman Eric Garcetti, whose office led the effort to revive the parade, said Sunday. "We tried to keep the tradition alive."

Organizers hastily drummed up support from actors such as Rex Lee from HBO's "Entourage" and Tony Plana from ABC's "Ugly Betty." Rip Taylor, Casey Kasem and dog psychologist Cesar Milan also made their way along the route, which took them east on Hollywood Boulevard and west on Sunset Boulevard.

Paparazzi at the red carpet before the parade could be overheard moaning about the dim star wattage.

Along the route, some of the participants received lukewarm cheers from the audience.

"It's really C-list," said Brandon Thomas, 25, leaning against a store window near Hollywood and Highland. "Yeah, they got Bob Barker, but he's been around forever."

Robert Mancillas, Sawers' father, turned to his grandchildren when the pop group T-Squad slowly passed by and asked, "T-Squad?"

The children looked back, unable to explain who they were.

When it came to ranking recognizable celebrities, the Sawers family said it was television icon Bob Barker, cast members of Disney's "High School Musical" and then a lot of "Who's that?"

Another drawback, they said, was that the entries appeared spaced farther apart than in previous parades.

"It just seems so quiet," said Sawers, who came equipped with folding chairs, pizzas, chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate. "Even last year wasn't like this."

Among those greeted with clapping, cheers and whistling was Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

For parade watchers such as Brenda Ramirez, the event had more to do with soaking in the atmosphere than seeing famous people and dignitaries.

"I'm into the lights and bands," said Ramirez, 44, of La Habra.

"There's no comparison to the Rose Parade, but I always wanted to see this. When I heard they were about to cancel it, I thought I had better come," Ramirez said.

Hollywood Christmas Parade
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The Hollywood Christmas Parade took place every year for 75 years on the weekend after Thanksgiving in the Hollywood community in Los Angeles, California, United States. The parade's 3.5-mile route followed Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard and had many celebrities among its participants. In 2007, the parade was in jeopardy of being cancelled, but the City of Los Angeles has sponsored the parade and renamed it Hollywood's Santa Parade.

Contents
1 History
2 Grand Marshals
3 Marching Bands 2007
4 Resources

[edit] History
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce created the Hollywood Christmas Parade in 1928 to boost shopping. Originally called the Santa Claus Lane Parade, the inaugural event featured only Santa Claus and the actress Jeanette Loff.

The parade continued to grow in scale with the help of local businesses and the community. In 1931 Santa Claus rode a truck-pulled float instead of the reindeer-pulled carriage of previous years. American Legion Post 43 marched with a color guard, drum line and bugle corps.

The Parade was suspended from 1942 to 1944 due to World War II, but the parade reopened in 1945 with record attendance.

In 1946 Gene Autry rode his horse in the parade and was inspired by the children yelling "Here comes Santa Claus, Here comes Santa Claus," to write the song "Here Comes Santa Claus" along with Oaklely Haldeman.

The parade continued to grow throughout the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, adding floats, animals, bands and celebrities.

In 1978 the parade was renamed to the Hollywood Christmas Parade to attract more celebrities and the parade was broadcast locally on KTLA-TV with the help of Johnny Grant. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, who produces the parade, announced they will discontinue airing the parade on KTLA and other Tribune-owned stations due to rising production costs.

In March 2007, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce decided to end the parade's run due to lack of celebrities and a loss of $100,000 for the 2006 production, which The Associated Press said cost about $1 million to mount. There is a Save The Hollywood Christmas Parade campaign underway and details can be found here.

The 2007 parade IS HAPPENING. It is being run by Pageantry Productions based out of Redondo Beach and is being retitled "Hollywood's Santa Parade." The parade is an invitation only parade which only the best horse units and marching bands are being invited. Bob Barker has been named Grand Marshall for this year's parade. KTLA will once again resume their annual broadcast of the parade, airing on a tape-delayed basis on December 16, 2007 due to the station airing a weekend-long 60th anniversary marathon on the same weekend as the parade. 2007 Parade website.