Shortly after moving to The Villages, Doris Turlo helped the Lions Club put on a Christmas parade every year.
She enjoyed bringing Christmas cheer to both Villagers and local youth through the Lions Christmas parade. Then The Villages pulled their support for the traditional parade.
“Someone went to the town of Lady Lake to see if they would put on a Christmas Parade,” she said. “And Mike called me to help.”
Mike is Mike Burske who is the director of Parks and Recreation for Lady Lake. Turlo’s job is to take participants’ applications, award a parade position, make sure all entrants are in the correct slot on parade day and start on time. She has done this for 15 years.
Ann Pelle, head of The Villages Twirlers and Drum Corps, has been in the event with her group every year since the Lady Lake parade began.
“I always get our application to Doris right away and she does a great job,” Pelle said.
The Twirlers are a crowd favorite.
Another group which has participated in the parade for several years is The Villages Classic Automobile Club. Several classic cars were in the parade this year including a Jaguar sports car, Corvettes and several Fords and GM cars from the 1950s and 1960s.
The Village Cheerleaders were in the parade lineup. So was Clown Alley 179, which remains a favorite of the children along the parade route.
The Golf Cart Drill Team also has been a mainstay in the annual parade. The crowd cheered the precision maneuvers the team pulled off without a hitch.
The Orange Blossom Lions Club members marched in the parade as they have since starting the tradition back in The Villages.
The parade was led off by the Lady Lake and Lake County law enforcement, followed by the honor guard comprised of veterans from the armed forces. The lead units were followed by hundreds of marchers, floats and vehicles. Following all of the marchers and vehicles came old St. Nick perched on top of a giant Kling Towing vehicle which carried his sleigh while being serenaded by the Leesburg High School band.