Mel McDonald has been driving his vintage cars in the Dallas Children’s Health Holiday Parade since it first began. (Photo courtesy of the McDonald family)
Giant balloons, marching bands, festive floats, celebrities in fancy cars — now that’s a parade to celebrate the season. There’s no need to travel up north. We heart you, New York, but Dallas has its own spectacular parade downtown, enjoyed last year by more than 400,000 spectators who lined the route. Some of your East Dallas neighbors, though, can tell you about another perspective: They have been in the Dallas Children’s Health Holiday Parade and will be again when it winds around downtown on Dec. 3.
You could ask Lakewood resident Mel McDonald about it. He and his antique autos have been in every Holiday Parade since the very beginning, back in 1988, as well as other area parades. As soon as he acquired his 1909 Maxwell Roadster in 1983, he offered use of the car to the State Fair of Texas for the opening day parade, plus the parade at the fair each evening.
That gig led to the Cotton Bowl/New Year’s Day parade, during which he has driven the likes of Cowboys Rayfield Wright and Emmitt Smith. So when the holiday parade was forming, organizers recommended McDonald and his vehicles. McDonald would eventually add to his collection a 1911 Cadillac Touring Car, a 1914 Buick Roadster and a 1915 Packard Touring Car.
The holiday parade has always been a family affair. McDonald drives one of his vintage autos, decked out in a traditional top hat, overcoat and colorful tie. Wife Jane is always along, and children Lyle and Elise have waved to the crowds since infancy. The kids are grown now, living on the East Coast, but they still make travel plans around the parade. New grandbaby, Lillian, will soon make her parade debut.
More often than not, McDonald and crew also carry costumed characters in the parade. Over the years, those have included Dennis the Menace, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Hello Kitty and Raggedy Ann & Andy.
But a couple of characters stand out. “Carrying Mickey Mouse and Mrs. Claus was always a special experience,” recalls McDonald. “The kids along the route just went wild, and our kids, at young ages, were thrilled about it, too. Made for a pretty momentous show-and-tell at school on Mondays.” He chuckles, “Didn’t hurt dad’s image either.”
McDonald also remembers a costumed character with a bit of a twist: McGruff the Crime-Fighting Dog. Most of the characters/celebrities in the parade have “handlers,” and McGruff was accompanied by a police officer. “But I did notice,” says McDonald of the officer, “that he was very particular about knowing all the arrangements during the parade and after we finished. He stayed close by and walked along with the car during the parade.”
McDonald was later informed that the person in the costume was an inmate from Dallas County Jail. “Not what we expected,” he grins.
Through all the parade adventures — and misadventures — McDonald loves his perspective. “It really is fun. People are in a good mood, glad to be there. They are all joyous affairs. The only drawback is that we don’t get to watch them, except on video.”
Another East Dallas neighbor, Ryan Booth, is a relative newcomer to the parade but loves it just as much. A resident of University Meadows, Booth has been in several parades as part of the Ebby Halliday Realtors team. Those giant balloons which elicit oohs and ahhs from the crowd? Booth can tell you all about handling them.
“I arrive with the Ebby team early, early in the morning, around 6:30 a.m., before the streets are blocked off.” The balloon handlers dress to match the balloon. “One year our balloon was Garfield, so we wore orange sweatshirts and had tails. Another year, we were Mr. Potato Head and we wore black hats with fake mustaches.”
The team helps to inflate the balloons with a “huge helium tank machine.”
Booth says, “It takes a team effort. Those suckers are really big. Some are three or four stories tall. While the balloon is being blown up and after it’s filled, the volunteers have to hold it with ropes — otherwise, it would take off into the sky.”
And the weather can complicate matters once the parade is underway. “If it’s windy, we need at least 25 people per balloon to hold it down and keep it from hitting buildings or trees.”
But picture-perfect weather doesn’t mean the job is easy. “Even if the weather is calm, we have to steer around buildings, light poles and trees. It’s a work out.”
Booth says the crowd sometimes works them even harder with shouts of “spin!” which prompts the handlers to run in a wide circle causing the balloon to, well, spin.
One other job Booth has performed in the parade is holding the banner that introduces the balloon. “I personally like holding the banner more or just standing to the side and waving because you can see more people and really get in the energy,” Booth says.
Dallas Children’s Health Holiday Parade
Dec. 3, 10 a.m.
