CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Folding chairs are lining the sidewalks in Chesapeake, and neighbors say that's how they know Christmas time is here. While the annual Chesapeake Rotary Christmas Parade is coming up this weekend, the owners of the chairs have been ready for weeks.
"People started putting their chairs out here more than three weeks ago," said Buzz Hartmann, a Chesapeake neighbor.
If you live or drive through Chesapeake, odds are you've seen them too.
"The chairs come out and they, you know, mark their spot for the Christmas Parade," said Carmel Ann Zintz, a Chesapeake neighbor.
"Not only just the chairs that are here, but you see the pickup trucks and the trailers that people have backed up here so they can sit in them," Hartmann said.
This year marks the 42nd annual Chesapeake Rotary Christmas Parade. Neighbors say people have been setting their chairs out weeks in advance to reserve parade spots for years.
"But it just seems like it gets earlier and earlier. This year, it was the Monday after Halloween, the first chair arrived with the sign over there that says 'Christmas Parade. Please don't move me,'" Zintz said.
So what's so special about a bunch of chairs? Hartmann, also known as Chesapeake Santa, says this tradition is what sets Chesapeake apart from other cities. Hartmann has played Santa in the Chesapeake Rotary Christmas Parade for the past 13 years.
"It's such a community event that nobody messes with them. You see the chairs lined up here, and nobody messes with them. They're here until the parade," Hartmann said. "Where do you know of, anywhere else, that you can set up and claim your spot for a parade three or four weeks ahead of time and nobody will come along and take it? That says everything about it. The Chesapeake Christmas Parade is a community."
Because of traditions like the parade chairs, these neighbors say Christmas time in Chesapeake almost feels like a movie.
"There's small town community feelings that can still exist in a world that's constantly changing. It really means a lot. I almost feel like we're living in a Hallmark Christmas town movie," Zintz said.
"It's kinda like when the Grinch's heart grew. You come and watch this, and your heart grows," Hartmann said.
The Chesapeake Christmas Parade is on Saturday December 6th at 6 p.m. For more information about the parade route, click here.
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