By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
It was a full-moon evening on Tuesday, and the citizens of La Marque came out with smiles ready to kick off the Christmas season.
Santa came to town in a brand-new fire engine one that carries the memory of “Turbo,” who served as a firefighter for the city of La Marque until he lost his life to COVID in 2021.
James “Turbo” Turrubiate is a name known to have brought joy to the citizens of La Marque and there couldn’t have been a more fitting way for Santa to ride into town then on a new fire engine that bears the words, “In Memory of Turbo”
Santa himself was full of his own joyous greetings and memories of Christmas parades from the past. “I was asked to be co-grand marshal 30 years ago when I was only 21. I thought it was a joke because I was so young, but they were serious and that was my first-time riding in La Marque’s Christmas Parade,” shared Brandon Williams.
Williams, a 1990 graduate of La Marque High School, has been playing the part of Santa in the parade since 2017. Though the temperature was hovering in the 70’s and humidity was hugging the region, Williams donned the Costume and climbed aboard his waiting fire engine.
The well-loved Santa was greeted with cheers of delight and gratitude along the parade route.
Santa’s job was only about 1/3 done as he disembarked from the fire engine. His evening’s task of greeting little ones was waiting for him in the pavilion at the city library. The line seemed to never end with children waiting to share their Christmas wish list with Santa Claus.
Little Eli told Santa that he wanted a robot for Christmas. Santa did his job and assured children he would see what he could do but made no promises. Families came and went and finally, Santa’s job was over, but a few adults couldn’t resist the chance to catch some time with Santa.
The parade and Christmas tree lighting were full of smiles, children, candy, popcorn, music, cheerleading squads, and drill teams. Plus, there were Christmas floats and people lining the streets to cheer on the entrants and to catch some candy. There were also city officials and artificial snow blown along the parade route.
Little Ke’Von posed for photos in front of the display of Christmas packages. He and his father, Edward, had a good evening at the parade. Other families positioned their little ones for photos in the festive Christmas setting.
Sanora and her “little” brother Markys were also happy to be part of the celebration. She is a graduate of La Marque High School while her brother is a current student at LMHS.
The Lions’ Club of La Marque was on hand to provide hot chocolate and popcorn to all the guests. On the day of the parade the club decided to add lemonade to the evening. There were more cups of lemonade served than hot chocolate. Staying cool and hydrated outranked staying traditional.
Going backwards into time, no one is exactly sure when the first parade was held. Greg Cornett, who is currently the president of La Marque’s Lions’ Club, checked around and no one knows for sure how long the parade has been a tradition. Mostly, it is agreed the parade has been marching through the town since some time in the 60’s.
As for the hot chocolate being given away, well that started with Cowboy Jones and Gil Goodwill of the Lions’ Club way back a long time ago. The tradition of the Lions’ club serving the people has become a favorite for attendees.
Bands and drill teams from both La Marque High School and Odyssey Academy wowed the audience with their music and dance skills. The Sims Elementary choir shared their voices at the tree lighting ceremony and so too did the choir of Abundant Life Church.
Mayor Keith Bell had the honor of lighting the Christmas tree. Perhaps he is smiling because the community event was a success or perhaps, he is smiling because he had the good fortune of wearing a polo shirt and not a heavy costume. His smile matched the ones everyone else was sporting, so we might assume the joy of the event brought out his smile.
