The American Red Cross knew it was welcome in Blanco County, but didn’t expect a whole parade. The ARC was scheduled to distribute electric heaters to the needy at the Good Samaritan Center in Blanco Saturday morning but, just as they opened the truck, ready to begin handing out heaters to those scheduled to pick them up, the giveaway stopped before it began.

The Good Samaritan Center was right on the Christmas parade route, which started at the same time. Nobody could get to their heaters until the parade was over. So what did the Red Cross crew do while they waited? Like everyone else, they picked up the candy Santa threw to them.

Left to right are Santa Claus, Good Samaritan Center Manager Lucy Uselton, Hill Country ARC Executive Director Kris Vandenberg, and Blanco County Red Cross volunteer Martha Mason. “We left extra heaters for folks who didn’t know about the program,” Vandenberg said, “and if we can raise some more money, we’ll come back with more. We don’t want anyone to suffer from cold this winter.”

Once the parade passed and the heaters were handed out, the volunteers and their truck headed north to the First United Methodist Church in Johnson City for the second half of the day, which went much more smoothly ...without a parade.