LEXINGTON – Five cousins celebrated the end of summer Sunday along with hundreds of others at the 16th annual Lexington Blueberry Festival parade.
Featuring the Miss Blueberry Pageant winners, the Lexington High School band and dozens of beach-themed floats, the parade kicked off at the high school at 2 p.m. and ended at Lexington Community Park about an hour later.
Mia Gledhill, 8, Sophia Gledhill, 12, Jack Chaffin, 9, Amyah Chiverton, 5, and Josie Gerhart, 2, made the most of every minute.
The five cousins, each with their own grocery bag in-hand, were already seated along Plymouth Street 15 minutes before the parade started.
Mia was especially excited to collect candy.
“Nope, I don’t have a favorite,” Mia said, when asked what candy she liked the most.
Later, she gathered up every piece that landed near her.
She and her sister, Sophia spend every summer at the Lexington Blueberry Festival.
“I’ve done mostly everything,” Sophia said.
The 12-year-old said one evening she grabbed a chocolate ice cream cone and a funnel cake for dinner.
She was looking forward to seeing the giant blueberry Sunday afternoon, as her friend was in the costume.
Mia was proud to share that she rode her first upside-down ride, but the 8-year-old believes it’ll be her last for awhile.
“I would want to wait until I get a little bigger,” she said.
The other three cousins weren’t sure what to expect. Jack was visiting from Columbus. Amyah couldn’t remember previous Blueberry Festival parades. And it was Josie’s first parade.
Karina Gledhill and Errin Chiverton, who brought the children to the parade, are both from Lexington.
