HALIFAX — The town of Halifax not only put on their annual Christmas Parade, but treated the Valley to a day of colonial-style Christmas festivities yesterday.

Hank Dewald | Daily Herald Halifax Town Crier Wrenn Phillips takes the first steps in leading the community’s Christmas parade yesterday. Advertisement

Starting at 9 a.m., the 5th N.C. Regiment of the Continental Line reenactors set up an historically accurate encampment and began presenting firing demonstrations every half hour, featuring both muskets and a swivel-gun artillery piece.

The Halifax State Historic Site Visitors Center opened at noon, with tours of most of the historic 18th century buildings around the site. Inside the visitors center were heritage craft demonstrations and displays.

Sarah Hill was greeting visitors to the center with maps and information about the all-day event. Beside Hill was a Christmas tree decorated just as one would have been in colonial times.

In fact, the first 85 years of the town of Halifax’s life were basically on display for all to see, as they always are, but with just a little twist — all as it would have been during Christmas in the American colonies.

In the Tap Room Tavern, holiday tastings were offered featuring foods authentic to a 1770’s Christmas. Chris Barber and William Harris were greeting visitors as they entered the tavern. Barber served them ginger cakes, shrewsberry cakes, Portugal cakes and fried almonds, all prepared by Barber using authentic 18th century recipes.

The cakes, as they called them in colonial times, would be called cookies today. “I started into historical research two years ago,” Barber said, “When I got into the 18th century, I just fell in love.” She said the colonials used different flavorings such as sweet wine, rose water and currents, which were not quite as sweet as the flavorings used today. Her Sally Lunde bread was a favorite of most who passed through the tavern.

While all of the historical Christmas was being enjoyed by visitors from all over, many Halifax residents were preparing for their annual Christmas in Halifax Parade near the new Halifax County Courthouse.

Visitors and reenactors began drifting from the historical district, up towards the Historic Halifax County Courthouse long before the parade was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

A festival-like atmosphere developed along King Street as neighbors greeted one another and claimed a spot to view the parade.

Finally, a Halifax County Sheriff’s patrol car siren sounded and all eyes turned towards northwest, where Wrenn Phillips, the official Halifax Town Crier, was leading the parade as it made its way through town.

The parade featured Halifax home town hero, World War II veteran Doris Wilson as grand marshal, who was followed by Halifax Mayor Gerald Wright in a beautiful vintage car. Convertibles of all kinds followed behind them.

The Mighty Marching Trojans Band of Southeast Halifax High School keep everyone moving as the parade passed through town, with several car clubs preceding and following them.

One of the highlights of the parade was when a beautiful replica of the “General Lee,” a Dodge Charger made famous in the “Dukes of Hazzard” television series, was being followed by another authentic copy of a Hazzard County sheriff’s patrol car, entering the Town Square on King Street.

The “General Lee” stopped and allowed the parade to move ahead of him. Once he had enough room, the driver leaned out of the window and said something to the patrol car behind him, before lighting up his rear tires in a cloud of blue, rubber-burning tire smoke.

Just like in the television series, the patrol car turned on his blue lights and siren, and disappeared into the blue smoke after the “General Lee.” The chase ended when the two reached the turnoff at the beginning of the Halifax Historical District. It seems the highlight of the parade was not “period perfect” for colonial times, but it did make an interesting part of a great parade.