It was Small Business Saturday and to encourage shoppers to patronize the local merchants, Carytown had its very own Santa Parade scheduled for noon today. I hurried to Carytown at 11:30, ran an errand and was standing on the sidewalk, ready for the big parade a few minutes before 12:00. It was a mild sunny day, perfect for picture taking and I was eager to capture all the excitement of the holiday festivities. A few minutes after noon I saw the flashing blue lights of a police cruiser slowly leading the parade. I stood eagerly, poised for lots of great pictures as the Greater Richmond Pipes and Drums came marching with dignity down the middle of Cary Street, followed by 3 vintage cars and then -- nothing. The End. That's all she wrote. The whole event was over in 90 seconds and that was moving slowly. Ah well, it was a beautiful day and all those families who had been waiting and watching were now hungry for lunch and shopping, which, after all, was the point of the whole event.
