Usually on the first Sunday in December La Jolla’s Town Council puts on the Christmas Parade. The parade begins at Girard Avenue in downtown La Jolla at 2 p.m. and finishes at Prospect near the La Jolla Recreation Center and ends with Christmas Tree Lighting at the Rec center.
The La Jolla Christmas Parade attracts about 15,000 people that line the sidewalks. Some 1,200 people, from all over San Diego, take part in parade, whether in the marching bands, drill teams, scout troops or among the dancers, float builders, equestrians, car aficionados, politicos or promoters. In addition to the parade, YMCA’s Holiday Festival, a street fair along Silverado Street with arts, crafts, food for sale and entertainment, helps make this a great event for the La Jolla community.
Obviously, Mac Meda loved to to celebrate this awesome event (by keeping the Christ in Christmas, not f@#&ing Holiday Parade as many want it to be) and for a few years entered a float. The float was simple, representing what La Jolla was made of – beach, sun, surfing, and of course, drinking as many beers as one can!
A Windansea shack decor tow truck had the honors of carrying Mac Meda boys and girls, Hot Curl, surfboards, and with Albert riding a bike in front…
However, the elite (or stuck up) group that organize the parade got wind of what Mac Meda represented, and when Jack was about to fill in the application (around late 1960s or early 1970s) … it was rejected.
Reason: Not Family Material! … and was banned for future entries … hummm sorta bias I’d say!
Some people just have no sense of humor!
So Jack for years after, entered the parade by himself, rode a small bike and gave out candy to the kids.
However, nowadays, some floats do manage to rebelliously sneak in a few Mac Meda decals (an RF to the stuck-up) …
… and carry Hot Curl … Hoorah!
The Hot Curl statue in this photo is the third one that Mike made in the fall of 1991. Jack had talked to Mike earlier asking him if he would be willing to make anther statue for the upcoming L J Christmas parade. Mike was quite willing to put his talents to work while Jack and some of the Mac Meda members contributed a few bucks for materials. During the weeks of construction Jack was having a conversation with the owner of the La Jolla Brew House and Jack mentioned to him about the parade and Hot Curl. The owner got interested and offered to have Hot Curl on view at his establishment after the parade. Don’t know the details but it never came to be. Perhaps he was worried that it might get knocked over. Anyway, one of the Meda crew was willing to place it in his home since Hot Curl was now homeless. It worked out for awhile but from what I was told his wife wasnt keen on keeping Hot Curl in the living room so the statue ended up in the back yard unprotected for months, maybe more. When Mike heard the bad news he and a friend got a pickup truck and removed the distressed character from the backyard and took it back to his workshop. About a month later Hot Curl was looking much better after a painstaking restoration. A few months later the statue was donated to the Oceanside Surf Museum. Hot Curl is now the greeter when you enter the museum.