<![CDATA[Cochranton Events - Parade Chat]]>Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:56:03 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Parade Season is Here!]]>Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:46:31 GMThttp://www.cochrantonevents.com/parade-chat/parade-season-is-hereParade Season is here! 
2026 is promising much excitement!
We are celebrating 250 years of the USA!
Our parade theme is Freedom!
Slated for Wednesday, August 5, stepping off at 6:30pm, you can find all the information on the Parade Details page here on our website. 
Applications are available on the Application Page!
(You are welcome to print out the PDF forms to fill out and then either scan/email to us OR mail to us via postal mail if you are uncomfortable with our online forms. Your choice!)
We look forward to celebrating 250 years of the USA with you this summer!
]]><![CDATA[Holidays]]>Fri, 24 Oct 2025 18:47:08 GMThttp://www.cochrantonevents.com/parade-chat/holidaysThe "Holiday Season" is upon us! 

First of all, THANK YOU to every participant, spectator, donor, sponsor, and volunteer for every single thing you did on parade day (and to make parade day happen)!

Apology and Clarification for an "oops" on parade day:
Yes, there were horses in the parade.  Yes, they missed the last couple blocks of the parade, and we apologize..  The horses/riders followed directions of a public official (which they should!). (The horse unit felt terrible about missing the end, but we assured them that they did right thing in following the directions they were given.) Why do we bring this up right now?  Because we've been asked more than once about what happened to the end of the parade / where did it go / etc.? -- Sometimes mistakes happen and sometimes we have to go with the flow.  That said, we apologize most sincerely. 
If you would like to see the rerun of the parade in its entirety, please visit this link -- thank you to our friends at Armstrong!  And, on these chilly evenings, if you're not watching local high school sports or the band, why not turn on a summertime parade on your television?  Fix some popcorn and enjoy, thinking warm summer thoughts!


In OTHER NEWS --

Halloween is fast approaching, 1 week away!  Our Halloween Crew is hard at work getting props ready for Trick-or-Treat Night on October 30th!  We have more folks getting interested in joining us for Trunk-or-Treat too!  We'll have the display open from 6:00pm - 8:00pm (1/2 longer than Trick-or-Treat in town so that everyone has a chance to make it to the fairgrounds without missing all the goodies up town).  Pedestrian Traffic only! Check out our Halloween page here! It promises to be another creepy kooky Cochranton Halloween!
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Christmas Tree Lane is just 4 weeks away too!  We have openings for those who want to display their trees and a few crafter/vendor openings yet!  Visit the CTL page here!  This year's event theme is "Generations" and we're excited to see everyone's creative ideas!  As always, our kitchen will be open all 3 days -- Friday and Saturday you can expect our famous soups, sandwiches, and pies.  Sunday we're introducing a Sunday Ham Dinner Special (pay for dinner and your admission is included! Sunday only)!  Friday and Saturday will have regular admission fees and purchase your a la carte food separately.  So, we're trying something new and hope everyone enjoys a good meal, beautiful holiday lights, displays, and gets to do some Christmas shopping.
And yes, some ask why we charge when there is usually no fee to visit the craft show in town -- because we are a fundraising event to help put on the annual summer fair parade!  We are not a craft show, we are Christmas Tree Lane with the express intent of providing a lot of holiday cheer, simple pleasures, and tasty treats.  Truly, if you look at the cost of admission to most events nowadays, you won't find a better bargain than the admission and kitchen items at CTL! (We've only raised adult admission once in approximately 36 years and we're still a bargain!)  We want to keep the event affordable for everyone.  We want to be able to put on a parade.  
Other fun things are happening in Cochranton that weekend too:  craft show at Cochranton Family Church, Christmas Consignment Sale at the old medical building (across from the fire hall), and more!  Please stay tuned to social media for the latest updates!
]]><![CDATA[Almost Go-Time!]]>Thu, 31 Jul 2025 01:07:07 GMThttp://www.cochrantonevents.com/parade-chat/almost-go-timeTHANK YOU to EVERYONE who applied by July 15th and helps make the jobs of our volunteers easier and sign-in on parade day smoother and safer for everyone!
For those who applied and are approved, we are finalizing line-up and hope to have line-up numbers sent to you before parade day (hopefully by August 4th....hopefully!)
THANK YOU  to ANYONE who expressed interest in our parade!
If you missed our deadline, please bring your lawn chairs and enjoy and awesome parade on Wednesday, August 6th!  
If you want to get involved in 2026, please submit your contact information on our "Contact" page so we can send you invitation paperwork next year -- we're open to new volunteers and participants.
If you missed applying and being accepted for this year's parade, please remember we do NOT permit walk-in entries -- this is for the safety of all participants who applied and were approved, for the children in the parade, and for spectators.  This is nothing personal.  
We love a parade!  We love everyone involved, but we want everyone to feel that things are in good order, so we have a process, and we appreciate your understanding.]]><![CDATA[Here We Go!]]>Sat, 12 Jul 2025 00:57:17 GMThttp://www.cochrantonevents.com/parade-chat/here-we-goTHANK YOU to those who have already applied and been accepted to be in our parade this August!

THANK YOU to those who have donated funds to support our parade!

Application Deadline is, as always, July 15th!  
You can apply directly via this website!  Click here!
Be sure to read our policy brochure and letter of invitation so that all "i-s" are dotted and all "t-s" are crossed. 
(Walk-ins are not permitted/accepted.)

Our committee makes every effort to send out line-up numbers via email in the days prior to the parade, please be patient.

Our volunteers appreciate your making parade day run smoothly and serve as an enjoyable community event!

We are excited to see everyone on parade night!  
(If you haven't applied by July 15th and been accepted, bring your lawn chairs on parade day and watch from your favorite spot!)
]]><![CDATA[2025]]>Wed, 08 Jan 2025 19:07:16 GMThttp://www.cochrantonevents.com/parade-chat/20252025 is here!
Generations is the theme of both the Cochranton Community Fair Parade and Christmas Tree Lane this year!
How will you honor the generations in your family and community?
Will you celebrate families, farming, businesses, events, organizations?
Put on your thinking caps because we are underway!
How can you help your neighboring generations?  Can you join our parade crew, the fair volunteers, the fire department, parent-teacher groups, 4-H groups, churches, or just help your neighbors when someone is under-the-weather, or their driveway is snowed in? 
What can you do for the Generations in your community?
We are so very excited for this year and hope that you are too!
The parade committee generally meets monthly, but not on a set day/time.  Let us know if you'd like to get involved (message us on Facebook or email us at cfp.parade@gmail.com)!
The fair association meets on the 1st Wednesday of the month (except on holidays) at 6pm, at the Presbyterian Church in cold weather and at the fairgrounds in nice summer weather. 
Visit the social media and websites of local organizations and see where you fit best! 
Do your part to honor the generations in our area, those who led you here and those who will follow you!
]]><![CDATA[Counting Down, Stepping Off]]>Sat, 03 Aug 2024 12:56:10 GMThttp://www.cochrantonevents.com/parade-chat/august-03rd-2024The countdown is underway! 
In just 4.5 days, the parade will be stepping off and marching, twirling, siren-ing, clippity-clopping, cruising, waving, and playing its way through the streets of our tiny town!
Our volunteers are amazing!
Amidst family matters, full-time jobs, and life in general, they are hard at work getting ready for another awesome parade!
From line-ups to print, numbers to be sent out (if you don't have your number before parade day as a participant, you can always get it when you sign in, no panic!), announcer's book to finish collating, trash barrels to ready, stakes & number placards to prepare to hammer into the ground and and so many more details, we thank them!
We couldn't host this event without our volunteers! 
We also couldn't host this event without our participants!  Thank you to everyone who applied by the deadline and whose registration we could approve!  The thousands of spectators love seeing you grace our streets!
We couldn't do this without many area businesses and organizations providing support with logistics:  Girardat LP for the use of their bus lot, Klasen-McQuiston Energy Corp for the use of their lot, Lynn Dickson for the use of his property for float line-up, Cochranton Elementary School and Cochranton Jr-Sr High School for use of their parking lots for line-up and disbursement, PennDOT for issuing our required permit for use of state roads (yes, state roads go through our town), Cochranton Borough for making sure permits are in order and working with the Cochranton Police Department and Fire Police to make sure the route is safe and secure, Cochranton Volunteer Fire & Ambulance Departments for assistance with line-up of big equipment, and being on the lookout to take care of emergencies, and COOL 101.7 for loaning us Joe Vilkie our Parade Announcer year after year! 
We couldn't do this without our sponsors:  Cochranton Community Church, Ernst Seeds, Griffin Motors, Lakeview Ford, Patterson Auto Wrecking, Shonnard Tax & Financial Services, Specialty Group Printing, Sunset Memorials, and The Petal Patch Florist!
Please forgive us if we missed mentioning anyone specifically in the above lists.  We're running on caffeine and little sleep, but we do appreciate each and everyone of you!!
If you've never attended one of the largest parades in western PA, then you're in for a treat!  Bring your lawn chair and arrive early!   Visit the fair before and after the parade to enjoy fair food, games, live entertainment (Michael Christopher with his full band), animal exhibits, home show exhibits, seeing old friends, making new friends, and relax, chill out with us, and enjoy our party for several thousand friends!
The parade steps off at 6:30pm sharp (you'll hear the siren at the fire station signal step off!).
If you had hoped to be a participant, but did not apply by July 15th, we ask that you visit our website in 2025 so that you can apply early and not miss out on the fun.  We do not permit walk-ins and have not for many years.  Some people ask "why" and the answer is two-fold and simple:  safety for all and a smooth process for all involved. 
Reminder:  if you are a registered participant, please send only one (1) representative from your unit to the sign-in desk to sign-in.  This will save on congestion of both traffic and people and make your set-up prep a lot easier!
We are so very excited about this year's parade and can't wait to see each one of you! 
Whether you are spectator, or participant, remember to smile, wave, and have an awesome parade night!! 
]]><![CDATA[Website Glitches]]>Tue, 16 Jul 2024 20:50:43 GMThttp://www.cochrantonevents.com/parade-chat/website-glitchesYES!  We know!
We know there is a problem with loading the confirmation page.  Unable to fix it, we asked the website company to correct the issue.  We are STILL attempting to use their workaround, to no avail.
SO, IF you clicked to submit your application, please know that it came through (EVERY Single Time you clicked on "submit") and now we have HUNDREDS of email applications we are are wading through to weed out all the duplicates.
We hope to have gone through all of them by the 20th of July.  IF you have not received an email reply by July 20th, please email us at cfp.parade@gmail.com to inquire. 
Please give us this week to go through all of the duplicates so that we don't miss anyone.
THANK YOU for your understanding and patience.
We posted updates on our Facebook page (please follow that for quick updates -- if we are away from computers, it is not easy to access our website for updates from our phones).
Hoping you all see at least this notification on the website.
Just think if you were paying an online bill and you kept clicking on the submit button....... how many times would your account be debited?  Well, we can tell you... MANY times.  Submit worked, confirmation did not work. 
We ask your forgiveness and patience as our all-volunteer workers take their personal time to go through your applications. 
We thank you for understanding that we are just like you:  volunteers with families, medical emergencies, regular paying jobs, and other life events.  We do our best, and THANK YOU for remembering that.
Please do not call to apply. 
Please wait until the 20th to email us.
We are hoping to have them all sorted by the 20th. 
THANK YOU!!!
]]><![CDATA[Tis the Season, Part II]]>Fri, 08 Dec 2023 22:23:08 GMThttp://www.cochrantonevents.com/parade-chat/tis-the-season-part-iiChristmas Tree Lane has come and gone.
Beautiful trees, awesome crafters/vendors.
Superb kitchen delicacies.
Santa.
Volunteers.
Visitors.
Firemen giving Santa a lift.
Community.
Visitors from as far away as South Carolina (that we know of).
Fun awards.
Money raised.
But, we could have raised more.  We're blaming it on the weather.  Rainy on Friday and too nice and sunny Saturday and Sunday.  We needed sparkly Christmas-y snow (not a blizzard).  Santa had very few children come to see him this year, and that was sad after he made the trip from the North Pole and trusted the elves not to taste test all of Mrs Claus' fresh-baked cookies! 
Santa left candy canes behind for any and all to enjoy even after he headed north!  There were still candy canes when the weekend closed down and the Parade Committee donated them to the Soup Kitchen in Meadville.  Santa's candy canes, the treat that goes many miles. 
We missed some of the regular folks who've been attending for over 34 years.  We missed everyone who didn't make it. 
We hope you all were ok and simply chose to catch up on yard work and still are taking your kiddos to see Santa at other venues.
We thank those who participated and attended and paid a mere $3.00 (ages 12 and up), $1.00 (ages 6-11), and even donated extra money for the Reindeer Red-Nose Award (the tree raising the most extra funds for the parade is the winner of that award)!!  Those of you who dined on goodies created by Kitchen Krew, we thank you!! 
Those funds go to keeping our annual parade alive, the parade that graces our streets during the Cochranton Community Fair each year, drawing in hundreds, thousands to the town and the fair.  Our goal is to bring people to our amazing community!!  You help us do that with your generous support! 
You are all part of our community and our community fair parade!  Did you know that you are part of our parade every year?  You are! 
Whether you donate individually, participate in Christmas Tree Lane, march in the parade, direct traffic, attend our Halloween display..... You ARE a part of our community!
Thank you!!

Pictures from Christmas Tree Lane have been posted to the website and on our Facebook page!
Our 2024 parade theme is:  Communities that Flourish!
Our 2024 Christmas Tree Lane theme is:  The 5 Senses of Christmas!  (we're hoping to have a more interactive tree display in 2024, stay tuned!)

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!! 
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
We look forward to your joining us in 2024!!]]><![CDATA[Christmas Tree Lane]]>Sat, 11 Nov 2023 20:13:45 GMThttp://www.cochrantonevents.com/parade-chat/christmas-tree-lane6539074Tis the Season!
Halloween is over.
Today is Veterans Day.  THANK YOU TO OUR VETERANS AND ALL CURRENTLY SERVING!  THANK YOU TO YOUR FAMILIES TOO!
Thanksgiving arrives in less than two weeks.
Christmas Tree Lane ushers in the holiday season in Cochranton in less than one week! 
Santa arrives, as always, on Saturday at noon via a Fire Truck escort!
Hours:
Friday, November 17, 10am-5pm
Saturday, November 18, 10am-5pm
Sunday, November 19, 10am-4pm
Admission:
$3.00 Ages 12 and up
$1.00 Ages 6-11
Free Ages 5 and under
(No fee just to see Santa on Saturday)
Our Kitchen Krew is looking forward to the tasty treats and planning for take-out availability!
Come on over one day, two days, three days -- vote for your favorite trees!!
Start your Christmas shopping with our crafters and vendors who are bringing their holiday finest!
Support your favorite organizations with their fund-raisers!
And remember, your support and enjoyment of Christmas Tree Lane helps us host the popular parade during fair week!
Help us usher-in Christmas in Cochranton!
New and longtime businesses are having open houses, the Junior Fair Board's Annual Gingerbread Contest is being held at the United Methodist Church (during the craft show at the church), the lighting of the Christmas scenes in the yard between the Presbyterian Church and the Cochranton Area Public Library, and more!
Do you like to sing?  Stop on by Christmas Tree Lane and share your vocal renditions (acapella) of Christmas music with fellow visitors and volunteers!
Some folks say it's too early for Christmas stuff, but, is it really to early to share the Christmas spirit with others?  There really is no wrong time. 
Share the spirit, spread the joy, and sing the praises of your local entrepreneurs and organizations!  (And, it's OK too, to sing the praises of Christ - after all, He's the reason we celebrate Christmas!)


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]]><![CDATA[Time Flies]]>Thu, 26 Oct 2023 01:08:36 GMThttp://www.cochrantonevents.com/parade-chat/time-fliesTime flies.
Since the last post back in June.....
Cochranton saw a phenomenal fair, 6 nights of new and awesome performers on its stage, a cool crew of parade participants strutted their stuff through the streets, and even with a couple days of sporadic rain, we had an amazing summertime fair!
Other communities had fairs and festivals and our committee continued to meet. 
Tomorrow night, our annual "creepy kooky Cochranton" Halloween display will be set-up at the fairgrounds for Trick-or-Treaters to enjoy, receive some treats, and stroll through the spooky sets!  From 6-8pm, we invited pedestrians to join us at the fairgrounds! 
Committee members have been planning costumes, sets of spookiness, and treats.  We will have the drive-through street(s) closed from 6-8pm.  Safety first -- to those who would drive through, please take an alternate route and protect our wee ones!  (Thanks for understanding!)

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