51st Cashiers Christmas Parade: A Tradition Still Marching Strong

There may have been no one more fitting to lead the 51st Cashiers Christmas Parade than Fire Chief Randy Dillard.

After all, he was there near the beginning.

On Saturday, December 6, 2025, the Cashiers Christmas Peppermint Stick Parade returned to the crossroads for its 51st year with a whimsical theme, “The Gingerbread Man’s Mountain March,” and a Grand Marshal whose ties to Cashiers and its Christmas tradition reach back generations.

Fire Chief Randy Dillard is a multi-generation Cashiers resident. Frank Allen Road is named for his grandfather, his father helped build Cashiers’ first firehouse, and Randy joined the fire department at 18. At just 25, he became fire chief — the youngest in the region at the time.

In 2025, he celebrated 40 years of service to the community while leading a fire district encompassing 135 square miles, seven stations and 27 trucks.

But his connection to this particular Cashiers tradition goes back even farther.

From the First Parade to the Front of the 51st

Randy and his cousin, Jackson County Emergency Management Director Todd Dillard, were among the community members who participated in the original Cashiers Christmas Parade founded by Sandie Smith in 1974.

In 2024, Cashiers celebrated the parade’s 50th anniversary by honoring Sandie’s legacy and naming her daughter, Nicolle “Nikki” Smith Russell — herself a participant in that first parade — Grand Marshal.

One year later, another participant from those early days moved to the front of the procession.

Chief Dillard was usually more accustomed to walking behind a fire truck during the parade. In 2025, Cashiers asked him to lead the way. As he reflected in the parade program, he had been blessed to serve a community that genuinely supports its firefighters.

More than half a century after the tradition began, one of its earliest participants was still making his way along the parade route.

Only this time, he was leading it.

The Gingerbread Man Comes to Cashiers

The 2025 theme gave parade participants plenty of room for imagination.

“The Gingerbread Man’s Mountain March” brought gingerbread creations, Christmas characters, music, animals, vintage vehicles, children and colorful floats to the heart of Cashiers.

The parade began at 3:00 p.m. near Frank Allen Road and Highway 64, traveled toward the crossroads, turned onto Highway 107 South and continued toward Cashiers School Road. Those unable to line the route could watch from wherever they happened to be through the Chamber’s parade livestream.

And there was plenty to see.

The official procession stretched to 70 positions, including local businesses, nonprofits, schools, churches, animal groups, public-safety agencies, Chamber Spirit of Our Community Award recipients, an antique fire truck and, of course, Santa aboard a ladder truck.

The award-winning Rosman Tiger Band from Rosman High School once again brought the unmistakable sound of a marching band to the crossroads.

Because really, what is a Christmas parade without a marching band?

Gingerbread Beyond the Parade Route

The Gingerbread Man didn’t confine himself to the parade.

In conjunction with the 2025 theme, the Cashiers Historical Society and Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce introduced a Gingerbread House Competition inviting individuals, families, businesses and groups to create their own gingerbread masterpieces.

Entries were displayed during Holidays at the Historical Society at the historic Zachary-Tolbert House, with winners announced during the Christmas parade. The celebration also included candlelight tours, Victorian carolers, music, crafts and Southern Appalachian holiday traditions.

It was another way for one parade theme to inspire a larger community celebration of Christmas in Cashiers.

Watch the 51st Cashiers Christmas Parade

Missed the parade — or want to spot yourself along the route?

Watch the complete 51st Cashiers Christmas Peppermint Stick Parade: The Gingerbread Man’s Mountain March and experience Christmas at the crossroads in Cashiers.

And the 2025 Parade Award Winners Are…

With so much creativity along the route, our judges — Serenity Richards, Sean Cronin and Jill Katz — had the difficult job of selecting the year’s standout entries. The trio returned for their fourth year of parade judging.

The Cashiers Christmas Star, recognizing the best overall creativity, appearance and originality, went to Cashiers Firewood, Bennett Equipment and Takeuchi.

The Elfin Magic Award for the best entry featuring children went to Cashiers United Methodist Church.

The Holiday Spirit Award for the most enthusiastic participants went to “Cashiers Candy Land Cottage” by Silver Creek Real Estate Group.

The Tin Soldier Award for the best marching or walking entry went to the White Squirrel Brigade.

The Cashiers Caroling Award for best musical performance went to “An Old Time Mountain Christmas” by Blue Ridge JAM and the Cashiers Historical Society.

The Santa’s Sleigh Award for best theme in motion went to “We WOOF You a Merry Christmas” by the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society.

The Vintage Vehicle Award for best car or truck display went to Casa Amigos and Los Vaqueros Mexican Restaurant.

The Rudolph’s Friends Award for best animal-featured entry went to “The Grinch and Bernese” by the Blue Ridge Bernese Mountain Dog Club.

And the Fruitcake Award, reserved for the parade’s most humorous display, went to “The Gingerbread Barkery” by Mountain Dog Spa.

Behind the Magic

Seventy positions do not make their way through the middle of Cashiers by Christmas magic alone.

Behind the procession was another group most spectators never saw: volunteers checking in entries, staging floats, carrying banners, working the parade route, handling signage, announcing entries, producing the livestream and somehow getting everyone moving in the right direction at the right time.

Some have been doing it for years.

Drew English and Sarah Jennings returned for their third year as parade emcees. Danie Beck marked her ninth year as Parade Starter. Melissa Hudson served her fourth year as a parade usher, while a team of check-in captains, staging captains, banner carriers, volunteers and Chamber hosts worked behind the scenes.

Add to them the law enforcement officers, firefighters, rescue personnel and emergency responders who help keep participants and spectators safe each year, and it becomes clear that the parade itself is a community production.

The Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce is deeply grateful to every person who gives time, talent and energy to make it possible.

51 Years — and Still Marching

The awards recognize some of the standouts.

They don't tell the whole story.

Every business that decorated a float, every organization that gathered its volunteers, every musician who rehearsed a Christmas song, every child who climbed aboard an entry, every dog persuaded to wear a holiday costume and every person who arrived early to claim a favorite place along the route added something to the afternoon.

That is how a community tradition lasts more than half a century.

Not because someone keeps putting it on the calendar.

Because people keep showing up.

In 1974, Sandie Smith gave Cashiers the beginning of a Christmas tradition.

Fifty-one years later, one of the people who remembers those early days led a parade of businesses, nonprofits, churches, schools, families, first responders, musicians, volunteers and neighbors through the same mountain community.

To Chief Randy Dillard, our parade participants and award winners, our volunteers and public-safety partners, and everyone who stood along the route or joined us by livestream: thank you.

You made The Gingerbread Man’s Mountain March another chapter in a Cashiers Christmas story that is still being written.

And after 51 years, we’re still marching.