Magic Ship of Christmas will carry Santa Claus to Community Center to light city’s Holiday Tree

Members of Lana’s Dance Studio troop perform in the parade to “Jingle Bell Rock” during a past parade. Morgan Hill Life file photo

By Marty Cheek

At the close of the Kiwanis’s 35th Holiday Lights Parade, children of all ages will be excited to meet the big dude from the North Pole as he pays a special visit to downtown Morgan Hill to light the Holiday Tree.

The event starts at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, as local people lined up along Monterey Road between First and Fifth streets enjoy the community celebration of the holiday season.

“Come on downtown and watch Santa come to town,” said Dennis Bettencourt, president of the Kiwanis and chair of this year’s event that serves as a kick-off to Christmas.

The fun and festive parade is a community tradition that goes back decades. The city of Morgan Hill used to organize the event to bring people together in the spirit of Christmas camaraderie. In the mid-1980s,  the Morgan Hill Kiwanis, a service organization, took over.

The parade committee was led by club member Mary Lou Conragan for many years. For her volunteer work chairing the parade and organizing the logistics of making sure about 60 units — including marching dancers, marching bands, and decked-out classic cars — were in their places for the pageantry, she received the 2017 Woman of the Year honor from the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce.

Because of COVID-19 public safety concerns, the parade was canceled in 2020. Bettencourt asks that because the downtown will be crowded with parade goers, people should take common sense precautions. He encourages mask-wearing (although it’s not mandatory). If residents are not feeling well, they should protect their fellow citizens by staying home.

Prior to this year’s parade will be a special Christmas-themed concert performed by students from Valley Christian Elementary School, a private academy in San Jose. The show takes place at the Down-town Amphitheater starting 4 p.m.  The singers will be K-5 students who will perform sacred and secular songs of the season, said Jeff Wilson, director of music at Valley Christian.

“We always welcome new audiences to see and hear the pure energy and joy of our young performers as we celebrate Christmas in song and music,” he said. “We have traditionally done a week of concerts at California Theatre in downtown San Jose for our K-12 community. Due to COVID restrictions we are moving our K-5 students outdoors this year.”

A Morgan Hill resident, Wilson said he thought connecting the school’s annual Christmas concert with the Kiwanis’s Holiday of Lights Parade and tree lighting ceremony would make for a wonderful evening out for families who may not know the small town charm of Morgan Hill.

“A big thank you to the city of Morgan Hill and the Holiday Parade committee for allowing us to tag along and bring hundreds of families to see how special the community of Morgan Hill is,” he said.

The Kiwanis are in the stages of planning additional surprise live music to entertain the crowds as they wait for the parade to start, Bettencourt said.

He recommends wearing comfortable clothing suitable for cold temperatures or even a gentle storm, he said.

“Last time we had this (holiday parade) was 2019 – and it was raining pretty good,” he said. “It’s impossible to move the date because of the weather. With city permits and road closures, it’s not something you can delay by a day or a week. It’s a rain or shine kind of event.”

At the end of the parade, Santa Claus will arrive in his Magic Ship of Christmas, crewed by Morgan Hill Scouts USA Troops 799 and 2799. A 1962 Studebaker Lark decked out to look like a big boat, it made its maiden voyage in the 1976 parade. After the Jolly Old Elf arrives on it at the Community and Cultural Center, parade goers can assist him in the count-down to lighting the city’s official Holiday Tree.

“This is really a small town parade,” Bettencourt said. “We have marching bands, dancing boys and girls, and Santa! The Magic Ship of Christmas just got a new clutch so it should be ready to go.”