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Even with near freezing temperatures outside that evening, the streets of downtown Dowagiac were packed with families from throughout the area Friday night, bundled in jackets, gloves, hats and scarves as they glanced excitedly toward the end of Front Street.

A few minutes after 7 p.m., a procession of bright white, green and red lights winded its way down the street, kicking off Dowagiac’s largest event: the 36th annual Candle-light Christmas Parade.

Hundreds of spectators lined Dowagiac’s Central Business District that evening to watch the annual holiday spectacle, organized by the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce. Nearly 120 units participated in the parade, from giant fire engines bedazzled with Christmas strung throughout the vehicle’s chassis to handmade holiday-themed floats, with groups of eager children wearing Santa hats or other Christmas-themed apparel happily waving to their neighbors on the street a few feet away.

The Candle-light Parade served as the penultimate event in the chamber’s 2017 Christmas Celebration. While the parade started at 7 p.m., the streets of downtown Dowagiac had swelled with guests long before then, with businesses and restaurants jam packed to accommodate the extra foot traffic that evening.

To pull off such a massive endeavor, organizers of this year’s parade — led by Dowagiac’s Max Sala, with the assistance of chamber president Kim MacGregor and program director Vickie Phillipson — employed the support of an army of volunteers, who did everything from making sure parade units were lined up in the right position to helping keep spectators off the road.

Among those pitching in Friday was Dowagiac business owner Connie Gray and her husband, Joe. Gray said she was asked if she and her husband would be willing to help out that evening by Phillipson, a request she happily accepted.

Less than an hour before the parade kickoff, Gray was beaming at the size of the crowd who had already assembled to watch the parade.

“There are so many people downtown for this,” she said. “I’m excited. I’m very excited.”

Gray said this is not her first time working behind the scenes of the parade. More than a decade ago, she helped do the judging for the awards organizers gives out to the floats every year, for categories like “best overall” or “best use of lights.” So, when she was given a chance to help out again with this year’s event, she leapt at the opportunity.

“I love everything about Dowagiac, especially events like this that bring so many people into town,” she said.

The chamber’s Christmas festivities will wrap up Saturday, Dec. 16, with Breakfast with Santa at the local Elks Lodge.

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