The Edison Festival of Light Grand Parade lit the streets of Fort Myers Saturday night. The 86-year-old tradition stays strong in the city.
Especially for long time locals Joanne, Loring and Suzie.
“It means a lot. So much because we’ve been friends for so long. It’s the thing that we do,” Joanne Prevatt said.
She and her friends went to Fort Myers High School together in the sixties and even marched in the parade. Years later, they still watch it together every year.
“It’s all community and that’s what’s important,” Prevatt’s longtime friend Loring Strickland said. Strickland said she used to watch the parade from her grandparents porch right on Cleveland Avenue.
Like Joanne, Loring and Suzie, Chris Gatewood wants to pass down the community tradition to his kids. They saved their spots hours before the parade started and brouhgt pizza too.
Gatewood said, “I’m born and raised here, so we’ve been coming here for as long as I can remember. So, we’re just trying to pass on the tradition to our kids too as well.”