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Parade Pictures Below
2009 JACKSONVILLE CHRISTMAS PARADE
Well, it turned out to be a gorgeous day - a little cool, but brilliant blue skies and sun just shining beautifully. Huff 'n Puff parents and students, we can't tell you just how proud we were of you today. All parts of Huff 'n Puff showed up to enjoy the day and the fun of the parade. Thank you to all parents. We appreciate the trucks, the trailers, the drivers, our walking and riding parents and our instructors who always do so much - and most of all, we thank our performers!!!! We were so proud of all of you. Ms. April, you did a great job of taking Ms. Laurel's place in the parade. We missed her but you didn't miss a beat being in charge!!!!!!
I want to thank our tumblers. It's not easy to tumble down the streets of Jacksonville. We are so proud of all of you. I especially want to thank the Jacksonville Gymnastics Competitive Team members who came to tumble. We know that you have a very busy schedule, but I was so proud. How else would Jacksonville know what a great competitive team we have, if they didn't see you tumble. And the same for the Jacksonville Dance Company dancers. A special thanks to you all, too. I just cannot say enough how proud I was of each group who represented Huff 'n Puff today. It really makes 29-30 years worth it!!!!!!
Now, you all know that I can't help my partiality - I really thought all three performance groups looked great in their stylish neck scarves and I thought your performances looked even better than how you looked. And each of the gymnastics groups showed up in big numbers and looked great - and of course, wowed the crowds with their tumbling skills.
The dancers came early Saturday morning to perform for the judges. We had our youngest dancers, ages three to five, who performed to "Boogie Woogie Santa." They danced in red shirts, black jazz pants, black neck scarves and Santa hats. They danced with the colorful props of wreaths with red ribbon. You all were so good and you danced so well. And we were extra proud of you because you are so young and I saw many of the dancers out there who knew the dance without the help of the instructors.
The next age group of dancers, also entered in the younger competition, looked so good in their light blue t-shirts, black neck scarves and black jazz pants and they danced so well as a group. They performed to "Let it Snow" and we were all so proud of them for their performance. The light blue t-shirts just showed off so well. Great going, ladies!!!!
The older group of dancers performed to "Christmas Mix" and their dance was outstanding as they performed lyrical, tap, and hiphop, as well as performing difficult tumbling skills within the dance as well. The dancers in this older group are in the competitive dance company and they were so impressive. After the parade, the Chamber of Commerce texted Ms. April to tell her that this group won the Second Place in the older performance category.
Pictures follow - divided up into different pages - some pictures were taken before the performances and some pictures were taken just before the parade.
Patiently awaiting the arrival of the "Judges" !!!!!
And then, others didn't really want to have a picture taken - in this cold, cold air!
But, we got Mom and Brother, anyway!!!!
And you can't imagine how much it pleases me to see a former dancer of ours with her young daughter, who is now a dancer with Huff 'n Puff.