FERRIDAY – Ferriday’s &uot;All-American Christmas&uot; parade lived up to its theme Saturday morning, with nearly every float entry sporting patriotic themes.

A banner with the message &uot;United We Stand – We Will Never Forget&uot; and a large American flag carried by local law enforcement, firefighting and emergency personnel led the parade down North E.E. Wallace Boulevard.

The Town of Ferriday’s float featured oversized cutouts of Uncle Sam and the Statue of Liberty as well as a tinsel-laden tree.

The floats of least two churches and Heritage Manor Nursing Home had participants dressed as the Statue of Liberty, holding their torches high. The banner on Rose Hill Baptist Church’s float read &uot;We’re Still Standing Tall.&uot;

Several parade watchers said that a float featuring the twin towers of the World Trade Center was their favorite.

Other standbys of Ferriday’s parade were there as well.

Those included the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office’s Drug Abuse Resistance and Education train; horse riding groups such as the sheriff’s mounted patrol; and several tractor and four-wheeler riding groups. And, of course, there was the Ferriday High School marching band.

Ethel Rosenthal of Ferriday, who brought her nieces and nephews to Saturday’s parade, has a vested interest in the band – her daughter served as a junior mascot with the band.

But she quickly added that she loves other things about the parade, too. &uot;We love to look at what all they put on the floats,&uot; Rosenthal said.

Rosenthal asked her nieces and nephews what they loved most about the parade, but they were already scrambling to gather candy thrown from the floats.

&uot;That’s what they love about it – the candy,&uot; she said.

&uot;We like the floats,&uot; said Leathia Cain of Vidalia, adding that she also plans to be at Vidalia’s Christmas parade, which starts at 3 p.m. today.

&uot;I’m here because I want him to see Santa Claus,&uot; said Jennifer Coates of Ferriday, referring to her 15-month-old son, Tyler Morace. Minutes later, Claus himself appeared at the parade’s end.

Sam Hanna, publisher and editor of the Concordia Sentinel newspaper, served as the parade’s grand marshal.