Holiday Stroll another success

By Elaine Gargano, Staff Writer

December 6, 2023

ROCKLAND-  Rockland hosted the annual Holiday Stroll down Union Street on November 25.

Some of the events that were put on this year were the parade led by the M.A.D dancers, a demonstration led by South Shore Taekwondo, the North Pole visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus at Magoun Biggins Funeral Home, face painting, Joe's Crazy Critters, and smores at the fire station.

This event has been part of Rockland's annual Christmas traditions for 35 years now, and many more attractions have been added. This coming year new members of the team are being added to inspire the growth of this event. 

Ms. Olivia McCormack, who is a newly elected representative and is planning next year's stroll,  thinks that next year's stroll could benefit from “an addition of a live bell chorus, a Christmas Tree lighting, and a time change.”

Ms. McCormack said she would love to see more live music, and Mrs. Kim Arena, who attended the stroll this year, agreed and said that the event could benefit from a time change.

Mrs. Arena stated that she enjoyed the “vendors, such as the smores stand, and events such as the cub scout showing. However, the stroll could benefit from taking place earlier in the day, with the addition of more live music.”

Sharing youthful insight on what can be changed at the holiday stroll is Rockland High senior McKenna Maher, who is part of the chorus. 

When it comes to improvement Maher shared that the holiday stroll can benefit from “adding more events that are catered to teens and mature audiences, as teens play a huge part in the stroll.”

Cora Mulready, a senior captain of the M.A.D. dancers, sees the importance of her role in the parade in the fact that she gets to “help those around her and provide an experience she enjoyed as a kid.”

When asked about advice, Mulready said that if planning to participate in the stroll as part of the team “they should just work as hard as they can and take notes from the experienced dancers to help them grow, and just step into it knowing it is going to be a lot of work, and remember there is nothing more gratifying than performing.”

Mrs. Marie Austin, the owner of the M.A.D. dancers ' company shared that her motivation to participate in the stool is that “she can participate in tradition and help bring attention to the performing arts.”