Cold temperatures and tight security did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd at Alexandria’s George Washington Birthday parade Monday.
This year’s parade included 157 units, featuring marching bands, antique cars, fire engines, baton twirlers, military regiments, clowns and more. There were approximately 3,100 participants and thousands of spectators.
“The police were very concerned about security but they did their usual excellent job and everything went smoothly,” said Joe Shumard, the chairman of the George Washington Birthday Celebration Committee.
Fishburn Academy’s band took top honors, with the T. C. Williams marching Titans coming in a close second, followed by the Francis C. Hammond Middle School band. The Twirl Factory, a group of young baton twirlers from the Alexandria Olympic Boys and Girls Club was recognized as well.
Firefighters and police played a prominent role in the parade, in keeping with the theme, “Saluting the Heroes Among Us.” “We just wanted to say thank you to our brave public safety workers for all of their hard work,” Shumard said.