Cold parade

Jennifer Franklin, 12, of Mauriceville (left) holds family friend Liam Mahoney, 3, of Orange (right) so they can both be warm as they wait for the annual Orange parade in Orange on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006.

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise



A float passes in front of the First Presbyterian Church during the annual parade in Orange. The church held an open house and offered coffee and coco to cold parade watchers.

"Cold" is relative here. One reporter from Baltimore said, "It hits 60 degrees here and everyone breaks out their parkas." What's new to me is how they report cold weather here. In Dallas, we had ice a few days each year. Most people stayed home because the city isn't completely prepared for ice.

Here, they report how many hours it will freeze by city. When it was finally going to freeze in Southeast Texas this year, Jasper had a six-hour freeze warning while Port Arthur had a one-hour freeze warning. Two days later, it was back up to sunny, 70-degree days.