by Fred Hudson

For the first time in the history of the annual Christmas in Middleburg parade, the Standardbred racing industry will be represented this Saturday (Dec. 6).

The Standardbred Retirement Foundation led by Roosevelt Raceway Where It All Began author, Freddie Hudson, will be participating in this year’s event.

The day starts off with Breakfast with Santa at 8 a.m. and is followed by the Middleburg Hunt Review at 11 a.m. with riders on horseback and the pack of hounds coming down the main street.

After lunch, the SRF and Hudson join 84 other entries in the hour-long Christmas parade that begins at 2 p.m., featuring foot beagle hunt clubs, polo clubs, animal affinity groups (corgi owners, Great Pyrenees owners, llama and alpaca owners, etc.), community groups (VFDs, schools, scouts, churches, clubs), enthusiasts groups (MG cars, old fire trucks, Mini Coopers, muscle cars), business floats, reenactment bands (Civil War, Revolutionary War, Scots highlands), high school bands, and quite a few miscellany that escape description, with Santa on his coach drawn by matched Ayrshires closing the parade.

The parade also includes the NFL Washington Redskins and Cheerleaders Alumni represented by the likes of Mike Bragg, Ricky Ervins, Pat Fisher, Sam Huff, Roy Jefferson, Ron Saul, Ron McDole and Mark Moseley. Also Miss Vermont Lucy Edwards, Salamander Resort & Spas (owned by Shelia Johnson, the founder of BET and co-owner of the Washington Capitals and Wizards) will be in attendance along with Ayrshire Farms’ Sandy Learner (founder of Cisco Systems).

All day long there are special events including:

• Breakfast with Santa and a silent auction at Middleburg Elementary
• A craft fair at the Community Center
• A greens show at Emmanuel Episcopal Church parish hall
• Children’s activities throughout town
• Parade, including the Middleburg hunt and hounds
• Food and drink indoors and on the sidewalk…everywhere
• A progressive wine crawl, and more!

In the past, 15,000-plus visitors attended the many activities and events, lining the closed streets. They come from throughout the local area and from the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area.

For more information please contact fhudsonscva@yahoo.com.