The Enloe Marching Band will appear at the Apex Christmas Parade this Saturday, Dec. 2 at 5 p.m. The proceeds will be going towards multiple local charities.
The parade will consist of floats, all themed Let it Snow!, composed of dancers, performers, dressed-up vehicles, and more. In attendance will be the Enloe Marching Band, which includes the color guard and over 70 Enloe musicians.
The Enloe Marching Band will perform two numbers, “Joy to the World” and “God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen.” The band rehearses Tuesdays and Thursdays until 4, for two weeks in advance.
Charities
The proceeds from the parade go to three local charities, all meaningful to their community in different ways. Most prominently, the Western Wake Crisis Ministry will be a beneficiary. The Ministry is a food shelter for children of Apex without a stable economic situation.
The Jaycee Burn Center, a wing of the UNC hospital in Chapel Hill, will benefit as a tribute to the Apex Police Department and Fire Department. Cormac informed me this was because the Fire and Police Department play a substantial role in running such a large parade.
The final charity that will benefit as a tribute to the Police and Fire department is the Special Olympics NC Torch Run, a public awareness campaign for the Special Olympics. Law enforcement personnel carry the “Flame of Hope” as a symbol of awareness in order to promote the inclusion of intellectually disabled people.
Organizing the Event
The Apex Rotary Club organizes the annual event, which is a chapter of the Rotary organization. The Rotary is a humanitarian organization that connects neighbors together to create change in their communities. Their motto is very telling: “service above self.”
“We organize local service projects in the area, we’ve helped with a food garden, we hold fundraisers, we have lots of service throughout the week, Meals on Wheels, our members are service-oriented,” says Robert Carmac, communication head at the Apex chapter of the Rotary Club.
When asked about the process of setting up the parade, Carmac elaborates,“We have to keep everything in mind, it’s a big ordeal to uphold; quite a bit of coordination to get that to the world. The parade starts planning six months in advance,” Carmac says.
Within these six months, the club will work on registering the floats and performers, as well as setting up the route the many participants will parade through.
For those interested in getting involved with planning such events, Carmac says,“There are Rotary Clubs in Raleigh. Try to get plugged in, visit those places, and realize there are a lot of people who are business leaders in the community who are volunteering their time because they find giving back to their community so important.”
Tickets can be purchased at apexrotary.org on a pay-what-you-can system. Make sure to come and support the Enloe Marching Band.
Works cited
“Home.” APEX ROTARY CLUB, www.apexrotary.org/. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.
“Rotary Christmas Parade | Apex, NC – Official Website.” Www.apexnc.org, www.apexnc.org/1710/Rotary-Christmas-Parade. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.
