Dear Editor,

I would like to thank all the people who helped make Christmas on the River a success.

Some people I would like to especially thank are: Jeremy Black, Betsy Adams, Ron Freeman, Marty Hoven, Reggie Browning, Chuck Glass, John King, Justin Fowler, Mr. Joel Coley, Tim Trimble USCG, (and all the men of the USCG stationed in Demopolis) for their outstanding community effort.

I also would like to thank Cormier Equipment Company, (Scott and all his associates), Rental Service Company, (Ronald and Terry and all their associates). I would also like to thank the organizations and clubs who worked on their floats with us.

These men and women gave freely of their time and made a great effort to make COTR Nautical Parade a success.

I did not get all the Boat operators’ names, but I do thank them, also the Demopolis Yacht Basin, (Fred), Demopolis City Police Department, City workers, Vernon and Allison Moore (Day Parade), Cemex Industries, Collins Communications, The USCG Auxiliary, Corps of Engineers, Mr. Ken Tucker, the students from Demopolis High School who rode on the floats and worked with me during the night parade.

I hesitated to submit this to The Demopolis Times for fear I left someone out who helped, if I did please forgive me, and I do appreciate your work and effort. Being Night Chairman for the Nautical Parade is a hard job and takes a lot of time. However when the last float with the American Flag was lit, I witnessed the cheers and watched as the crowd applauded. The silence as Lee Greenwood’s song played over the loud speakers was worth it all.

America is indeed the greatest nation on earth and Alabama and especially Demopolis, Alabama is as good as it gets. We have a lot to be thankful for in this country, and God has blessed us. I was proud to be a part of the celebration.

It was my pleasure to work with the wonderful people mentioned above, and I think Cathy Leveret, Dale, and the other city officials and other chairpersons did a great job. This is our biggest week of the year, and I think we were a success.

Thanks again,

Michael Black,

Nautical Parade Chairman 2001