Neiman Marcus / Adolphus / Children's Parade 1997
On Saturday, December 6, 1997, Ashley rode in the nationally-televised Dallas Christmas Parade, co-sponsored by the Neiman Marcus stores, the Adolphus Hotel, and Children's Medical Center of Dallas. This was the 10th annual parade, held each year to benefit Children's Medical Center.
Thirty children from the hospital were chosen to ride in the parade. It was an incredible experience, and the memories of that day will last a lifetime! Susan, Justin, and I had reserved seats, alongside other families of children riding in the parade.
Following are some of the pictures I took before, during, and after the parade. There are 20 pictures, so it may take a few minutes for all of the thumbnails to load. I apologize if this is an inconvenience, but I thought these pictures were worth sharing! I hope you enjoy them!
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Just before the parade started, we met one of the 4 dalmatians that
played the part of Pongo in Disney's live-action remake of the movie
"101 Dalmatians". As Ashley leaned down to pet him,
Pongo planted a wet one right on Ashley's face! [JPG, 45K] |
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Justin awaits the start of the parade, with Santa hat and Rudolph nose. [JPG, 34K] |
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Lesley, one of the Child-Life Specialists at Children's (and a special
friend!), also awaits the start of the parade. Can you tell it was COLD that
morning?! [JPG, 42K] |
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This is Pat the Clown. (She doubles as Pat the Nurse the other 364 days
of the year!) [JPG, 41K] |
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The banner announcing the start of the parade. [JPG, 37K] |
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Mickey and Minnie head up the parade (same ones that were at Children's
the day before). [JPG, 43K] |
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Snowden the Snowman, from Target Stores. [JPG, 45K] |
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Buzz Lightyear and Woody, from the Disney movie "Toy Story".
(Are you picking up a strong Disney theme here?) [JPG, 51K] |
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Felix the Cat. [JPG, 37K] |
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The Magic School Bus. [JPG, 48K] |
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Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, riding on an old-timey fire truck. [JPG, 68K] |
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And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for!
Here she is, the star of the parade -- ASHLEY O'REAR!! (And the crowd goes
wild!) Ashley rode in an old-timey car with Buddy the dog (from the Disney
movie "Air Bud"). [JPG, 51K] |
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Here she is again, doing the famous parade wave. Isn't she just
adorable? (The correct answer is, "Yes"!) [JPG, 28K] |
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And here she is one more time, doing the same parade wave, this time
from a different angle. This was the first time in a LONG time that we
had seen this big a smile on Ashley's face! [JPG, 24K] |
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Spiderman. [JPG, 28K] |
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Rudolph. [JPG, 37K] |
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Wild Thing, from the children's book, Where the Wild Things Are. [JPG, 46K] |
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Santa Claus. They brought this guy in from Hollywood for the parade.
He is "Santa to the Stars". [JPG, 41K] |
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Justin with Lisa the Clown and Priscilla the Clown. Lisa and Priscilla
are Ashley's two main Clinic Nurses. (They don't usually dress like this
in the hospital, though!) [JPG, 63K] |
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After the parade, there was a special party at Planet Hollywood, just
for the children who rode in the parade and their families. Here, some of
the Child-Life Specialists from Children's pose with cardboard cut-outs of
famous movie stars. [JPG, 38K] |
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