Why was there such a gap in the middle of the parade? The leadership on the grandstand didn't seem to know what was going on or do much to keep people engaged. I feel bad for the participants in the second half of the parade, as so many of the spectators had departed by the time they made it to the grandstand.

I agree - we missed a whole portion of the parade thinking that it was over. Cars were pulling out of the library parking lot onto center street in the middle of the parade with complete indifference to the parade. I don't understand why the driveway wasn't barricaded as usual. Then the crowd at the end of the route began to disperse as no parade participants were in sight and there was a stream of cars coming out of the library!

One of the groups lagged heavily behind toward the end of the parade and parade staff did every thing they could to speed them up. There were a lot of great floats and entries this year!

What was up with the racist Hattie McDaniel / "Gone with the Wind" costume that one featured parade walker was wearing? Appallingly poor taste.

Totally agree on the Gone With The Wind costumes. Just awful and racist. It was very offensive!

Five pictures of Gerry Connolly and Democrats, one of Romney supporters. Go ahead Patch and lying to everyone that you're unbiased.

Btw, where we were, there was no cheering for the Obama/Connolly group but lots of applause for Romney.

@ Frank - different photographers - different perspectives. Upload your photos - you're allowed!

Love the photos,,,I was sick and couldn''t go so thank you for them, they are great!

It's one thing to cheer for the political party you support, but there is no need to boo and jeer at the other one. I saw a lot of this last night, and it saddened me, because it really undermines the intended spirit of the parade.

Regarding the gap in the parade, we were near the Vienna Inn and as far as we could tell, the parade was over. At least ten minutes went by with no action, and no one indicated that there were more floats to come. We couldn't see a thing except people spilling out into the street and leaving, so we just assumed it was over. Oh well.

I agree with you DD. People should not be booing the candidates they oppose. Pretty soon, the candidates will not be allowed in the parade I would think, as it DOES ruin the atmosphere.

Nice video Ann Martin! Thank you!

I was disappointed that the parade was not really over yet, but since there was nothing to be seen all the way from grandstand to giant, we left just like everyone else did. I am saddened for the people who went to so much trouble to prepare their entries and were not seen by probably more than half the crowd.

Political comments? Romney cheerers were most definitely louder. There were no 'boo's from anywhere for with side. We were all polite and friendly and respectful of each others opinions/candidates. The media and Patch are always biased toward Democratic candidates - that is to be expected. Was thankful to be surrounded by people who respected both sides. But please don't lie about it? I was at the grandstand - silence for Obama - screaming cheers for Romney. Come on folks....

It's obvious that the Patch is biased toward the left politically. It's not easy having to see that smug arrogant face of Connolly. The parade should never allow any political people or content. The entire event was ruined by the display of politics. We get far too much of it thru the media, mail, telephone, and on and on. The parade should be an event for the Citizens of Vienna and nothing more!

Sad for those later entries who were not seen by most spectators.

Although I am a Democrat, I agree with Ron that there should be no politics at all in the Halloween parade....no politicians, no banners, no floats supporting candidates from any party. Other than its proximity to Election Day, Halloween has nothing to do with politics nor should the Halloween parade.... ever. Haven't political commercials taken over enough of our lives that we cannot have a wonderful family celebration like the Halloween Parade without the intrusion of a bunch of blind ambition politicians with anything but Halloween on their minds? Can't we reserve a politics free place for our children and ourselves -- set it all aside for just one night?

Further, I am really disappointed in the choice of Santa Claus as a Grand Marshall for the parade. Even Macy's has the good taste not to start into Christmas until the Thanksgiving Day parade. Way bad that the commercialism of Christmas made its way into this year's parade. Whose tacky idea was that? Please give our children a chance to enjoy one holiday at a time before hitting them up with the buy, buy, buy mentality of Christmas!

I would love to see a parade without politicians and without Santa next year!

The theme this year was Holidays Around the World and thus they chose Santa Claus for the grand marshal. I don't believe it had anything to do with starting Christmas early. It just made sense to represent the most popular American holiday.

Re: politics in the parade. I have no objection to politicians being in the parade - sort of a tradition and part of the charm, I think. But we should rein in our behavior, especially with children nearby. At one point, when the Obama supporters (high school kids with signs, mostly) were marching and cheering, an elderly couple near me started booing and hissing and shouting "get rid of the bum". I was embarrassed for them, setting such a poor example for the young people around them.

Anybody who attends this parade regularly knows that it ends with the firetrucks and sirens. So no need to leave even if there is a pause. There was a huge lag due to a Bolivian (I think) dance troupe who's sound truck was moving at a snail's pace. Had they moved faster their dancers would not have been exhausted after going the first block. They were practically dancing in place rather than making any distance. There were three of these troupes each with a massive amount of people. While they are entertaining, they moved too slow and the parade ran longer than usual. I think they should be limited to one or two groups.

That gap in front of the first group of Bolivian(?) dance group had to be at least 1/3 mile - it took the parade staff a long time to send somebody down there to speed them up, which they eventually did. We also ended up leaving after 2 hrs or so and feel bad for participants at the end of the line. The town really should ban the politicians (nobody gets anything out of that and it would speed up) AND try and keep the pace up.

oh and yes, that gone with the wind thing was horribly offensive....who's idea was that and why did the parade organizers not pull that one out? Was that somebody who thinks vienna is still in 1920? Face it the town is a whole lot more diverse than that...