Christmas may be the busiest day of the year for Santa Claus, but for a small-town journalist like myself, the first couple Saturdays in December rival any day of the year.

This past Saturday, I did a mini tour of the county throughout the day. It began in Washburn at 10 a.m. with the first parade of the holiday season. While it may be the smallest in size, Washburn’s parade has a quality of quaintness and hometown living not quite the same as anywhere else.

Plenty of candy was tossed, stuffed animals were handed out, multiple tractors and classic cars made their way from North Street to Church Street, packing a ton of fun into just a couple blocks.

The highlight of the Washburn Parade is clear — the hometown performance by the Southwest Trojans Marching Band. Led by long-time Director Glenda Dalton, who has been in charge of the Trojans’ sound since my wife, Jordan, was on the drumline in high school, the band not only plays excellent Christmas music, but has a unique formation performance unlike any other band in the area.

The size and length of Washburn’s parade is just perfect to be able to make it to Purdy’s parade at 11 a.m. Even though I have been in Cassville for more than a decade, this year was my first time attending the parade in Purdy, and I loved it!

The Purdy band sounded great, and color guard was impressive, and the length of the parade slightly surprised me. However, there is one thing that set Purdy apart in my mind — candy. Sure, candy is thrown at every parade, but in Purdy, the sheer amount of candy (and quality and variety of bite-sized pieces) was incredible.

There was so much candy thrown at some groups of children that they stopped picking it up during the parade and waited until the end to clean up.

As if four parades in one day wasn’t enough, I found time in between Purdy’s and Exeter’s parades to stop in at Cassville High School to shoot a full round of the boys wrestling tournament. The Wildcats this year have more potential than any year before, and it showed on Saturday with a blowout team win and five individual titles.

This year’s squad, with its seasoned group of seniors, will be a gift that keeps on giving well into February.

After getting a solid set of wrestling shots, I made my way to Exeter for parade number three. Exeter mirrors Washburn in many ways, but with a few more entries. Plenty of classic cars made their way down Front Street, and the cheery afternoon was marked by a number of floats or entries that had been in Washburn or Purdy’s parade earlier in the day, and the second time Santa lofted Christmas greetings from atop a fire truck — always a classic.

After Exeter, I finally got a bit of a break before capping the evening with the biggest parade of the day, Cassville’s. I’m not sure what I like most about our hometown march. Is it that we had three bands? Is it the massive variety of floats? Is it Santa on his sleigh at a reasonable height better for photos?

It’s all of those things. It’s also how packed the square is, and how many people yell out from the sides of the street to me as I make my way back and forth from the square to Fohn Funeral Home to get photos and videos of all the high points of the parade.

Simply put, Cassville’s parade is a lot of fun, though it’s also a lot of work and a lot of steps. I would bet I cover as much ground as the parade participants do, just in a space of about half a mile.

The only major negative of the Cassville parade is that I always have to work it, so I never get to spend it with my kids. Instead of being there to help catch candy and offer a Merry Christmas to Santa, I catch all the action afterward via videos Jordan takes.

This year, our youngest was the most excited about the parade she had ever been, shouting Merry Christmas to anyone and everyone who will listen, including many times at the many Grinches throughout the parade and even louder to Santa at the end.

This Saturday, we’ll head to Seligman for its parade, then to Wheaton, a family favorite, to finish out the season. While I don’t get to hang out with the family in Cassville, it’s a different story in Wheaton. We usually pick a good spot on Main Street and I get my photos while spending time with the family. 

The highlight of Wheaton’s parade, other than Santa and Mrs. Claus on a classic fire truck, is always the float that tosses bouncy balls down the street. If you’ve never gone, it’s a good one.

Happy candy hunting to all as the final parades come a’calling. I hope to see you there!

Kyle Troutman has served as editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and owner/publisher since 2023. He is a three-time ISWNE Golden Dozen award winner. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or [email protected].