Rain could not keep Santa Claus away Saturday as he showed up to help lead the "Old-Fashioned Christmas Parade" through the Mathews village

Despite the cold rain, most parade units still arrived to participate, said JoAnn Mulvany, a member of the newly-formed committee which coordinated this year’s parade. However, Mulvany said that the scheduled performances by the Mathews High and Thomas Hunter Middle school bands were cancelled to protect the instruments from the weather, especially the woodwinds.

Ann Miller, another member of the organizing committee, said that 41 units entered the parade. "It truly was magical and all went very smoothly," Miller told the Gazette-Journal.

Neither Mulvany nor a spokesman at the Mathews Sheriff’s Office could provide a crowd estimate.

Judges for the parade were Karen Podd, art teacher at MHS; Kathy Reming, art teacher at Thomas Hunter, and Steph Brown, an art teacher at the Bay School.

Winning floats...