West Bend, WI – There will be a unique format to Sunday’s live broadcast of the annual West Bend Christmas Parade as neighbors chime in with their memories of what shopping was like on Main Street more than 70 years ago. Add your recollections and help answer questions about storefronts and business owners such as Boden’s Tavern where you had to go down three steps to get in and the tavern was called ‘Beneath the Street.’ Remember that location or the owner?
During the broadcast we’re looking for memories about what the inside of the stores looked like and names of owners or employees. One reader recalled a Wiedmeyer who was an usher at the West Bend Theatre, and he had a flashlight and would go around ‘shushing’ teens.
Do you recall the Living Nativity at St. John’s Lutheran or Jecklin’s Shoe Store, 264 N. Main Street, with Bernie and Mona.
One local recalled, “I wanted penny loafers but didn’t want them to be new, so I put them in the high school parking lot and let the kids drive over them until they were appropriately distressed.”
Chime in today with your memories of shopping in West Bend, Wi, and we will read them during the live broadcast.
Be sure to mark your calendar for Sunday, December 1 as the annual West Bend Christmas Parade will step off at 5 p.m. There will be a live broadcast at Washington County Insider brought to you by Boss Realty. This year’s theme is “Christmas Around the World.”
The parade will step off at 5 p.m. sharp led by local law enforcement and a contingent from the Kettle Moraine Marine Detachment presenting the U.S. flag.
This year’s parade broadcast sponsors include: Wendy Wendorf – Homestead Realty, Sal’s Pizzeria, Advanced Focus Eye Care, AM Construction, Don Patnode – American Family Insurance Agency in West Bend, Collett Systems, Tennies Ace Hardware, Rogue Beauty Bar, Extra Mile Snow Plowing, and Murphy & Prachthauser.
Below are some photos and comments from the 2023 parade.
“Thanks so very much for broadcasting the Christmas Parade. It has been a part of my life since 67 years ago when I marched in the West Bend Christmas parade as a member of the Grafton High School marching band.”
The 72nd annual Christmas Parade begins at 5 p.m. on
Sunday, December 1, 2024.
