AUBURN - Sounds of excited chatter and children's laughter rang through the streets of downtown Auburn Saturday afternoon as families gathered to kick off the holiday season at the annual Holiday Parade and Fun Day.

Some waited in line for their turn to take a horse-drawn carriage ride, while others spent time inside Genesee Mall making ornaments and tasting Girl Scout cookies. Others were carrying on a family tradition.

Saturday was the first time in 15 years that Richard Brachman was at the event. He brought his 2-year-old daughter, Ella.

“When I was younger, my mom used to bring us to the parade every year,” he said.

Brachman, of Port Byron, waited in line inside Genesee Mall to get a free identification card for his daughter. The Free Child ID program booth was set up by the Cayuga County Sheriff's Department.

“If anything happens, we can find her,” he said as he kissed Ella on the cheek.

Brachman's mom, Catherine Hayes, was also with them. Hayes, who was visiting from Owensboro, Ky., used to bring her children and anyone else who wanted to go “just so that they could watch the parade and have some fun,” she said.

Hayes believes the event is a way to get people together and have a good time with the children. Even though Hayes has lived in Kentucky for four years, she still comes back for the holiday parade every year, she said.

“When I come home, this is where I come, to the parade with my family,” she said.

Michele Whipple's favorite memory is seeing Santa Claus, she said. Whipple, who has not been at the parade for 5 years, recently moved back to Auburn so her son Jordan, 2, could experience growing up in Auburn, as she had.

“We actually moved back from Florida just so he could go through everything that we did as children,” she said.

Whipple recalled coming to the parade with her family when she was little, and although some things have remained the same, the horse-drawn carriage ride is something she had not previously done. She and Jordan stood in line Saturday waiting for their turn.

“Now that he's little, I want to do everything that they have here,” Whipple said.

The parade began shortly after 6 p.m. and lasted almost an hour. Hundreds of people gathered on Genesee Street to welcome participants and wait for Santa Claus. Children cheered, clapped and laughed as fire trucks and floats went by. And the cheering only got louder when Santa Claus appeared.

Glenn Stokes and his wife, Renee, have been bringing their children to the parade for the past two or three years, he said.

“This gives people something to bring in the holiday season,” he said.

This is the 22nd year the parade has been going on, said Daniel Schuster, director of the Auburn Business Improvement District. The event is for the community and more importantly, for the kids, he said.

“Every community wants to have an event to draw in the holiday season. This is the event for Auburn,” Schuster said.

One new aspect to this year's event was a Thanksgiving play performed entirely by children at the Auburn Public Theater.

Artistic producing director Angela Daddabbo said the theater wanted to do something that would be part of the annual event.

“It's just the right time of the year to have such a production but it's also over by the time people start having to get really busy with the Christmas holiday,” she said.

Daddabbo believes the event is important because it appeals to people of all ages, she said. And although Daddabbo recognizes the need for local businesses to make money, she also said the parade is a good way for people to recognize the significance of the holiday season.

“It shifts the focus ... to what's really important about the holidays,” she said. “This is a way to remind us all of the reason for the season.”

Staff writer Gitana Mirochnik can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or gitana.mirochnik@lee.net