Saturday’s Christmas parade in Mathews, "Mathews County: A Way of Life," saw a huge increase in attendance from previous years, according to Mathews County Visitor and Information Center director Ann Miller.

"We had 52 units this year," Miller said. "Last year, we had 30-some." She said she really thought this year’s parade brought in a whole lot of new people.

"There was so much variety," she added. "It was just amazing, and a lot of young people got involved this year."

She said the Mathews Lions Club did the best job at capturing the overall theme of the parade with its banner that read, "Volunteering: A Way of Life." "They really captured our whole theme, as we are trying to stress the value of volunteerism as a way of life in the community," Miller said.

Miller said parade-goers lined both sides of the street on the parade route that stretched from Thomas Hunter Middle School to the Bank of America building. "Downtown was just swamped," she sa...