“We’re gonna let the neighbors know it’s New Year’s Eve!” With that promise from Highland Park Action Committee chair Dan Mullins, this year’s Not-So-Silent-Night Parade strolled across SW Holden and onto a winding mile-long loop route. Not quite the same route as the first-ever version last year – not the same weather as last year, either; it was rainy then, but this time, clear and cold, with ice patches like this one in the street (luckily everybody kept to the sidewalks):

Neighbors along the way called out “Happy New Year!” to greet the parade:

And at the end, like 2009 – after Mullins exhorted everyone to “give yourselves a hand!” – a brief fire ceremony offered a chance to tell the old year goodbye:

What burned? Neighborhood greenery, predominantly rosemary like last year, “maybe some thyme,” we heard somebody say. And then, the 60-plus participants were invited inside for cookies, cider, and a jovial 4-plus-hour start on 2011.