‘We’re going to enjoy it;’ Holiday At Home parade kicks off in Kettering

KETTERING — Kettering’s Holiday at Home Festival’s biggest attraction kicked off this morning with the Holiday At Home Parade.

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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00 p.m., the Holiday at Home Festival has events for everyone including an auto show, but the biggest attraction is the parade.

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“We have 117 entries and 17 floats and multiple marching bands, and we’re going to enjoy it,” The President of Holiday At Home, Lisa Rusak said.

Rusak said each year the parade features high school bands and dance teams, car clubs, and honored veterans.

However, this year comes with a twist to go along with the theme of hometown celebrities.

“We have Larry Hansgen, the voice of the Flyers. We have Jason Michaels. We have really scored on some of these people willing to come out. And there’s a lot of history,” Rusak said.

History runs throughout the festival, it’s been happening annually since 1959.

The festival is called Holiday At Home because of how it all started.

“They started to keep people at home because they had had an increase in deaths from drunk driving. It was supposed to be a festival that traveled to neighboring cities,” Rusak said.

Rusak said Holiday At Home took over the parade after no one else would, she said they put an emphasis on celebrating local people who are making a difference in their community.

“We try to, highlight those who have served our community and the people that a lot of times don’t get seen because they are behind the scenes most of the time,” Rusak said.

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