The Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce hosted our 35th Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade with the threat of rain and cold from the forecast on Thanksgiving Day and the reality of only a few scattered clouds and sun shining. It was another fantastic example of this lovely town coming together to celebrate the only parade of this size on Thanksgiving Day in the Southwest.

Thank you to Fountain Hills Motor Sports, who lent us a gorgeous Convertible Black Mercedes for Business Person of the Year – Stephenie Bjorkman, owner of Sami Fine Jewelry – and I to ride in during the parade. Stephenie and I had such fun wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving and listening to holiday music along the parade route. We decided together the Business Person of the Year and the Chamber President should always ride together in future

Parades!

I have always enjoyed the parade with my kids as a longtime local resident; however, it felt very different to enjoy the parade from this perspective. The amount of time, energy and work that goes into this successful event deserves huge kudos to our parade entries, members and events department with Paige Lorentzen at the helm, who took the lead 100 percent this year. Sharon Morgan, who has been in charge of the parade for the past 30 years, was sorely missed this year, as she has been out ill.

Our community events continued this past Saturday, along with the Town of Fountain Hills, with the Stroll in the Glow and Chill in the Hills Skating Rink. We hope you and your families were able to join us and our mayor to light the Avenue of the Fountains as our celebratory start to the holiday season. The Town of Fountain Hills brought you the lights, trees and decorations on the Avenue. Something special this year was the kick-off for the Town’s 30-year anniversary of incorporation, where birthday cake for 300 was served.

In addition to the skating rink and inviting Santa Claus himself to the Stroll, the Chamber invited other local businesses and organizations to participate in the event. Just a few examples of this included the Sonoran Lifestyle Real Estate’s Elf Village, Sofrita’s hot cocoa stand and the horse-drawn wagon rides provided by ReMax Sun Properties. FHCCA and the Leadership Academy brought you the living Poinsettia tree and the newest addition this year was the blue First Responders Tree to honor all first responders, which was a civic and community effort led by Lina Bellenir, Bob Scarpetti and Linda Kavanagh.

We encourage you to continue to visit local businesses to start or finish your holiday shopping locally and enjoy your town!