On Tuesday July 28th Wildwood had its 106th annual Baby Parade on the Wildwood Boardwalk. This parade has been a Wildwood tradition since 1909 and has grown to include 6 different categories. Babies and children up to 12 years old are judged on their cuteness, creativity and style. The parade also includes Queen Oceania and her court and Miss North Wildwood and this year the parade included Queen Oceania 1944. The Grand Marshall’s of the parade were some of the stars from the Harlem Globetrotters who had their first show on Wednesday and will be entertaining families through Saturday.
The parade route started at the convention center and ended on 16th street in N. Wildwood where prizes were awarded to all the winners. Even though it was very hot and a long walk the kids and babies had a good time and I was very impressed with the creativity of all including my own children who participated in the Fancy Children category which is for children in costume. My youngest daughter was entered in the Cutest Baby category and didn’t win but we still think she is cute. (FYI Cutest Boy and Cutest Girl is the hardest to Judge because they are all so cute)
Here are some of my favorites from the night.
Riley Dougherty (9) 2nd place in Fancy children and my niece Georgia Shutter (6) 3rd Place
Riley was Monster under my bed and Georgia was a Gingerbread girl
Trophies were given by Queen Oceania and her Court and John Lynch announced the winners.
My daughter Avery 2 months old
Queen Oceania 1944 also graced us with an appearance in the parade.
Grand Marshall’s of the Parade were the Harlem Globetrotters
My niece Georgia Shutter showing off her skills.
The Globetrotters include Handles Franklin, Hi-Lite Bruton, TNT Maddox, Ant Atkinson, Buckets Blakes, Cheese Chisholm, Stretch Middleton, Bones Millien and Quake Milum. Shows are as follows:
Friday and Saturday at 7pm. Tickets are available and can be purchased through ticket master or at the box office located at the Wildwood Convention Center. They are also holding a skills clinic for children and tickets for that can also be purchased at the box office and include a ticket for that nights show. For more information on the skills clinic please use the following link. http://www.wildwoodsnj.com/calendar-cc.cfm?Mode=Results&coe_id=1554&KEYWORD=&ANYALL=PHRASE&MonthYearCat=8_2015
For more information on tickets please go to the following link.
Staff Writer
Georgia Dougherty