Yes, the annual Holiday Parade is coming, once again!
The 54th annual parade is being held, as usual, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving:
Date: Sunday, November 19, 2023
Time: 2:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Route: Beginning on Thompson Street at Snead Street , crossing the railroad tracks onto England Street, turning onto Henry Street and ending at Gandy Elementary School.
SECRETARIAT MONUMENT TO BE GRAND MARSHAL OF ASHLAND/HANOVER
OLDE TIME HOLIDAY PARADE ON NOVEMBER 19
Santa Claus is coming to town and so is Secretariat, both starring in the 54th annual Ashland Olde Time Holiday Parade on November 19. The spectacular “Secretariat Racing Into History” bronze monument will serve as Grand Marshal, accompanied by Kate Chenery Tweedy. Her grandfather Christopher Chenery founded Meadow Stable, and her mother Penny Chenery raced Secretariat. Kevin Engel, a well-known Hanover farmer, will drive the truck pulling “Secretariat’s” trailer.
This year’s parade will have 115 units with well over 1,500 individuals taking part, walking, riding, marching, and dancing. The parade is sponsored by the Town of Ashland with the Ashland Kiwanis Club doing the organizing and direction for the event, as it has for 27 years. The starting location is at the intersection of Thompson Street and Snead Streets The step-off time is 2:00 pm. Units travel east on Thompson and England Streets, turning north at Henry Street, through the Randolph-Macon Campus and ending on Archie Cannon Drive at John M. Gandy School.
“Secretariat Racing Into History,” at 21 feet long, 11.5 feet tall and 3,800 pounds, is the largest monument of the great Virginia-born Thoroughbred in existence. Created by acclaimed sculptor Jocelyn Russell, it is the first and only statue of Secretariat in Virginia. It may also be the most well-traveled sculpture of its kind. The statue racked up over 5,100 miles during its extensive tour this summer celebrating the 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s Triple Crown of 1973. After the monument was unveiled in Ashland in April, it drew throngs of fans at the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness in Baltimore, the Belmont in New York, Colonial Downs in New Kent, and even at the Virginia Governor’s Mansion in Richmond.
The monument returned to Ashland “for keeps,” thanks to the Chenery family’s deep ties to the town. Christopher Chenery, a lifelong horseman, grew up here and attended Randolph Macon College. Penny Chenery, known as the “First Lady of Racing,” received an honorary doctorate from the college in 2011. Ms. Tweedy, an Ashland resident, co-authored the award-winning book “Secretariat’s Meadow – The Land, The Family, The Legend.”
“Secretariat Racing Into History” will be permanently placed in a special plaza at the corner of Railroad Avenue and England Street on the campus of Randolph Macon College. The Secretariat For Virginia committee of the Ashland Museum has been raising private funds for the project and is still accepting donations for the installation costs. The museum will gift the monument to the Town of Ashland at no taxpayer expense. Plans are underway for a dedication ceremony once construction and installation are complete, possibly by spring of 2024.
