Every ingredient that makes a parade successful was in the Lehighton Area Halloween Parade on Saturday.

The five-division march had hundreds of marchers, many spectators, excellent weather and more variety than a Heinz warehouse."Everything went very smooth," said parade chairwoman Julie Harris."I was very pleased with the amount of participants in the parade and the spectators lining the whole route," She said. "Porches, yards and sidewalks were crowded. It was a nice day for a parade."The parade was dedicated to her father, the late Charles "Charlie" Harris, who died Jan. 19. Harris had been part of the Halloween parade committee since the parade's inception."Dad was on from the beginning ... 44 years," Harris said. "He was greatly missed by all the committee members and announcers Saturday. He was the 'voice' at the beginning of the parade 'begging' for donations."Leading the nearly 90-minute parade was the grand marshal, Paul Smith, and his wife Linn.Smith is a retired music teacher in the Lehighton Area School District, a former music director of Zion United Church of Christ in Lehighton and the director of the Lehighton Band.Some of the themes in the parade were a sock hop featuring attire from the 1950s, walking newspapers, clowns, owls, monsters, and marching cupcakes.Numerous floats were in parade including a large dog coop that urged people to adopt a pet and a 40-foot replica of a school, saluting St. Matthew's Pre School 20th anniversary.Dance groups, military veterans, fire apparatus and political leaders were all included in the parade.Hilbert Haas, a member of the parade committee, said, "It was an excellent parade. The weather was good. People seemed to enjoy it."Haas said all marching groups received a prize.Rae Brinks of Hazleton said, "I'm enjoying this. It really shows the good things people do. You hear so much about the bad, but this is all positive. I'm loving it."Harris said the committee's "Best of Show" choice was a tie between St. Matthew's Pre-school float, "20 Years and We Are Still on a Mission," and Lehighton Girl Scout Troop 33, "Going On A '50s Sock Hop Oooh Baby."First place winners in the parade were:• Daisy Scouts, Lehighton Daisy Troop 33, "Troop 33 is Going to a 50's Sock Hop, Ooooh Baby," leader Karen Shaffer.• Cub Packs, Lehighton Cub Pack 82, "Cub Scouts Rock," cubmaster Melissa McGowan.• Girl Scouts, Lehighton Girl Scout Cadette Troop 3583, "Girl Scouts Are Cuter Than Cupcakes, Sweeter Than Pie," leaders Aubrey Kroboth and Pam Berger.• Group, Lehighton Hardware Company, "Lehighton Hardware Pumpkins," Linda Guy in charge.• Cars, J & J Entertainment Racing, Jason Muffley and J.D. Light.• Floats, Carbon County K-9, "Who Let the Dogs Out."• Pre-school, Jack & Jill Preschool, "The Sky Is the Limit," owner Melissa Kester.• Dance, Tumble With Denise, "There's No Place Like Home," Owner, Denise Maradeo.• Large Children's Float, Franklin Township Girls Softball, "Storm," head coach Keith Brinker and Jen Bronko.