In the lead-up to the Buladean Christmas Parade Saturday, viewers huddled in their cars to avoid the freezing temperatures, with vehicles lining the parking lots and fields along N.C. Highway 226 into the community.
However, when a Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicle blasted its siren in the distance to mark the start of the parade, people surged out of their warm cars to fully participate in the celebration.
Just prior to the parade beginning, organizer Becky Garland was directing traffic next to the community center.
“We had to change the route this year, as Helene damaged one of our bridges,” Garland said.
Buladean, and the rest of North Mitchell County, suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Helene (downgraded to a tropical storm after slowing down over land) in September 2024.
Garland and six other Buladean residents have served as the Christmas Parade organizers for the last six years in the unincorporated community.
“It all started with COVID,” Garland explained. “We just felt like we needed to create some Christmas spirit in the middle of the pandemic, and the parade grew out of that idea.”
The parade started off with the students in Mitchell High School’s marching band performing in their second of three local parades.
They were followed in turn by a showing of Buladean’s firehouse vehicles, floats from local businesses and churches, and a guest appearance by Santa in his sleigh.
There was also a friendly showing of the two candidates running for Mitchell County sheriff: Cecil Hobson and Shane Vance. Vance’s team offered a variation on their Grinch float seen the week before in Spruce Pine’s Christmas Parade, while Hobson arrived in a truck-turned-band wagon, with the candidate riding at the top, waving at the parade-goers lining the route.
“This is a wonderful turn out today,” said Jennifer Graff, the director of the Buladean Community Center and one of Garland’s fellow organizers.
The parade is just one of Buladean’s holiday events.
“We’re just getting started, though, as we’ve got a number of different holiday events and activities planned for the next few weeks,” Graff explained. “A week from today we’re hosting a Sasquatch Santa, you know, Bigfoot himself. Everyone in the county is welcome to join us. The more the merrier.”