In the “Most Wonderful Time Of The Year”, the Woodland Park community consistently shows up big in all aspects for the annual Lights Above The Clouds Parade.

This year was no exception as there were 60 floats plus other parade participants. The biggest ever! The parade was capped off by the much-anticipated event at the end of the parade. All to the delight of a very large crowd.

Organizing this event is a herculean effort that occurs throughout the year by the work of three non-profits and volunteers. This year a sincere congratulations go out to Mike and Sara Demuth from the Divide Mountain Explorers. For the second year in a row, they were the organizers of the parade. They did a phenomenal job with their creativity, connections and ability to overcome whatever challenges came our way.

The two other non-profits, Above the Clouds Toastmasters and Kiwanis led in the areas of the Awards Ceremony and the Check-In process, respectively.

The awards ceremony was led by Steve Sato, the Master of Ceremonies. He kept the stage active hosting Gayle Gross, from SOAR and our Mayor Kellie Case. It was after the Divide Explorers presentation on their club when Gayle was awarded the first annual Tad Litwin Award, much to her surprise. Kristen Roberts delivered her testimonial for Toastmasters and how it has changed her life and helped build her courage to speak in front of a large audience. Zach Walker closed this section of the ceremony highlighting the contributions of the Kiwanis Club to our community.

George and Lynn Jones hosted the wildly popular Crazy Hat Contest.

The audience was then entertained by a professionally prepared rendition of “Must Be Santa” by the Merit Academy Children’s Choir led by Jaxxy Windish.

Dru Brownson and Laura Gordon from Toastmasters then took the stage to announce the parade award winners and kept the segment lively with audience participation. In between awards, Tim Miller, also from Toastmasters, belted out a rendition of “Twas’ The Night Before Christmas” for the youngsters.

Steve closed out the evening Thanking everyone and encouraged everyone to monitor the Facebook page and vote for next years theme.

This is highlighting only the core planning and key elements of the parade. We want to especially THANK the many volunteers who stepped up the day of the parade to make it all happen. Without them, there would be no parade.

Next year, we rotate our responsibilities as Above The Clouds Toastmasters will lead the parade organization. Kiwanis will be responsible for the Awards Ceremony and the Lion’s Club will serve their first year of their rotation and cover the Check-In process.

Make sure to follow the parade Facebook page “Lights Above The Clouds Parade” for information on the float, crazy hat and special award winners. Monitor the page for the midyear contest and vote for next year’s theme. It promises to be another fun and exciting event.

Mark you calendars for Saturday December 5, 2026 and “be of good cheer” and have a happy new year.