PORT JERVIS/MATAMORAS—There was a sizable turnout for the 44th annual Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6. The parade is put on by the Tri-State Chamber of Commerce and was named after long-time organizer Rick Drew who “was just all about Christmas,” his wife said. During his time as organizer, he expanded the parade to include fire trucks and the route into Matamoras. “He was a costumed character in the parade and that just gave him the idea that ‘Hey, this should be bigger.’ And he just took it and ran,” his wife carol recalled. “That’s just the kind of person he was.” Rick died suddenly in 2001, the day before 9/11.
The decorated truck of the Mill Rift Volunteer Fire Department Station 34 at the Rick Drew Holiday Parade in Port Jervis on Dec. 6, 2015. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Decoration on a Maghogomock Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 truck from Port Jervis at the Rick Drew Holiday Parade in Port Jervis on Dec. 6, 2015. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
An elf pears out of the window of a Westfall Township Fire truck during the Rick Drew Holiday Parade in Port Jervis on Dec. 6, 2015. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
An ambulance from the Port Jervis Volunteer Ambulance Corp. in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade in Port Jervis on Dec. 6, 2015. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Huskies Huyanna (L) and Grey Cloud in Port Jervis for the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 as part of the Four Paws Rascals, a dog community group in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Jim Hendry dressed as the Grinch in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade in Port Jervis on Dec. 6, 2015. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
(L-R) Brooke Csencsits, a teacher at Candy Cane Pre-school; Chris Addy, the owner of Candy Cane Preschool; and Jim Hendry, the father of a child at Candy Cane Pre-school in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade in Port Jervis on Dec. 6, 2015. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Girl Scout Troop 129 from Matamoras with the Nutcracker in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade in Port Jervis on Dec. 6, 2015. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A half-costumed snowman before the Rick Drew Holiday Parade in Port Jervis on Dec. 6, 2015. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
The back of the truck from the Delaware Engine Company No. 2 in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade in Port Jervis on Dec. 6, 2015. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A dog dressed as Santa in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade in Port Jervis on Dec. 6, 2015. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Patricia Gessner marching with the Drew United Methodist Church Traveling All Stars from Port Jervis in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade in Port Jervis on Dec. 6, 2015. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
The crowd watching the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 along Pennsylvania Avenue in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Nelson Page dressed as father Christmas for the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A Salvation Army vehicle decorated as a reindeer during the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A Salvation Army vehicle with bells and bell ringers behind it in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A bell in the Salvation Army float in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A snowman in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
An angel with the United Methodist Church group in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
An elf in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Pennsylvania Girl Scout Troop 625 dressed as jelly beans in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
The Candy Cane Pre-school float in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A dog in the Candy Cane Pre-school float in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Children in the Candy Cane Pre-school float in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
The Dingmans Ferry Delaware Township Volunteer Ambulance Corp. in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
The Port Jervis school council in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
The Port Jervis school council in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Santa Claus in the Rick Drew Holiday Parade on Dec. 6, 2015 in Matamoras. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Nicole Drew (L) and Carol Drew, the daughter and wife of the late Rick Drew for whom the parade was named, in Matamoras for the parade on Dec. 6, 2015. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
