The City of Concord will honor Suzanne Howard as the Special Guest for the 97th Concord Christmas Parade. Howard has been involved with the Concord Christmas Parade for nearly four decades, serving as the co-host and voice of the parade for more than 20 years.
Howard is a life-long resident of Concord and grew up watching the parade. She marched in it as a child with her baton class, and one year she rode in the parade on a bobsled her dad built and pulled behind a tractor. For her, and for so many generations of families, the annual Concord Christmas Parade is a defining tradition that signals the start of the holiday season.
As a young child watching the parade with awe and excitement from the back of a mill truck, Howard could not have imagined then that she would one day be responsible for ushering in the beloved holiday tradition and helping to bring the same joy to countless children. It is a responsibility that found her after she met her husband, John Howard.
John had been involved with the parade since 1965. When he and Suzanne married in 1987, she became a parade volunteer by association. Since that time, she has done everything from staking out the parade, reviewing applications, setting the lineup, and even cleaning up after the horses. Today, she continues to co-host the parade alongside Teresa Padgett. Together, they have been the voice narrating the parade for viewers on TV for more than 20 years.
As Special Guest for the 97th Concord Christmas Parade, Howard will temporarily step away from her co-hosting duties with Padgett to ride in the parade as the City’s honored guest. The community is encouraged to wave and cheer her on during this much-deserved recognition for her decades of work in front of the camera and behind-the-scenes making the parade possible for all to enjoy.
While Howard is being honored, Macie Melton, Owner and Founder of The Downtown Dirty, a social media platform dedicated to supporting Cabarrus County small businesses, will join Teresa Padgett on stage to co-host the parade. After she completes the parade route, Howard will join Padgett and Melton on stage, and the three hosts will narrate and close out the parade together.
The 97th Concord Christmas Parade kicks off at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 22, and follows the traditional route down Church Street from Lake Concord Road to Buffalo Avenue, onto Union Street and ending at Corban Avenue. For those not able to attend the parade in person, they can watch the livestream on the City’s YouTube channel. More information about the parade, and all the City’s holiday events, is available at concordnc.gov/Christmas.
Suzanne Howard, Special Guest, 97th Concord Christmas Parade