This past Saturday, tens of thousands of Encinitas residents, including many SDA students, flocked to the 101 after sunset for the annual Encinitas Holiday Parade. This year the parade’s theme was “Encinitas86,” 1986 being the year that Encinitas became a city. Groups from all walks of life marched in the parade this year, representing everything from churches, to schools, to locally-owned businesses.

Three SDA groups made an appearance, the first being the Japanese Honor Society dressed in colorful kimonos. Shortly after them came the auto shop club, which exhibited a line of old fashioned cars driven by SDA students.

Third came the SDA jazz band, which stuck to the parade’s 80s theme and played its own peppy rendition of Men Without Hats’ “Safety Dance,” a popular track from the time period. “My favorite part about being in the parade was seeing new faces of the community and bonding with my classmates,” said junior and jazz band performer Parker Smith of his experience.

The event gave off a positive vibe, as people of all ages set up chairs and blankets along the 101 to cheer on their friends and family. The loudest cheers of the night were for the Boy Scout troops and dance companies. As usual, the last float of the evening carried Santa and Mrs. Claus, whose arrival sent all the children present wild with excitement.

Those SDA students that weren’t a part of a club that marched in the parade went with friends or family to get in the holiday spirit. Freshman Taylor Wagner goes to the parade every year without fail, a tradition she hasn’t broken in years. “I like going because I get to see a lot of my friends in the parade and usually walk with them in it,” she said.